Learning the Truth
by The Ren
Summary: Sebastian, Myrddin & Quin are tied by fate. When she comes to them much the worse for wear, things progress until a hidden truth is revealed. Sebastian & Myrddin owned by Fuelled by Slash, Quin owned by me. Based off of an RPG on GaiaOnline.
1. Chapter 1

Several years had passed since the fateful night that Quin had first met Sebastian and Myrddin. It could be said that they were friends, but it was a tenuous relationship that she didn't like to fall on often. She had no other choice now except to fall back on him this time again. She had gotten a job at a diner after getting her GED and even had enough to a manageable shoulder length cut and her hair was her natural black instead of the vivid trademark purple. Her olive skin had filled out her skin and she had even grown a few inches with the proper nutrition. She looked much better than she had, she knew that much for certain.

A patron from the diner had been making eyes at her for the past few nights. Him being charming was one of the reasons why she had agreed to meet him after work to walk down to the pier. The stroll had been pleasant enough - chatter that would buzz any red blooded male dotted the conversation along with just the right hint of body language set the mood for things to get hot and bothered a little later. Things were almost to go to the next level when the two overheard something they shouldn't have. The mob was conducting business on the pier. It took seconds to kill the mood that had been created as they both watched as a man was shot dead before their eyes. Quin's reaction was faster than her date's and she spun on her heels and began running. Her date stood still for a moment before uttering loudly, "What the hell?"

This brought the mob's attention that they weren't alone and they came running. Quin was almost out of their sight when they fired a bullet at her running form. It caught her on her arm, but she knew to pay attention to running instead of the pain for survival. She reverted back to what she knew from the streets; sacrifices must be made for survival. There hadn't been an immediate gunshot for her boyfriend, so she could only assume the worst and think that they knew where she worked. For the next few nights, she had called in sick at the diner and watched from outside as she saw two non-regular customers begin making almost hourly. They would talk to her coworkers before leaving without buying anything. The deaths were reported in the paper and were barely a blurb about a suspected drug deal gone bad. The other guy that had been killed was an undercover cop. It was requested that anyone with any information to report to the police what they knew.

She couldn't go back to her own pad - it was on the third story and the fire escape had been out of order since before she had moved in. Plus, if they had found her work, there was no telling if they had found her home address yet. She would stop in fast food joint bathrooms to clean her wound up, but she saw it festering without any antiseptic on it. Her sleeve was still stained with caked blood, and she couldn't go into a corner store without raising more questions than she'd like. Hospitals were out of the question because they were being watched for anyone with bullet wounds, plus the mob could come in at any time and finish her off. So, she did the only thing she could think to do in her situation - she went to Sebastian's.

She broke in during the day, picking the lock and deadbolt with rusty hands, but she finally gained entrance to Sebastian's home. She locked the door behind her, knowing that he would have his key. They haven't made a lock that could keep me out yet. she thought to herself as she cleaned herself up, dressed her bullet wound and put on a bathrobe as she washed her clothes. Then she went to his closet and got one of his smaller swords. She didn't know how to wield it, but any blade was better than nothing at all. She wasn't going to go down without a fight. She rummaged in the kitchen and cooked a meal because she was hungry, and she figured either he or Myrddin would be hungry for something to eat when they came in.

It took less than thirty minutes to prepare and she ate her fill before going to put her clothes in the dryer. She was surprised that Sebastian had stayed away as long as he had at this point in the day. She picked up the sword and maneuvered a chair in front of the door to await his return. But a good dinner and a few sleepless nights finally caught up with her and she passed out in the chair waiting for him to return. The sword was propped against the arm of the chair and she had curled herself up to sleep in the chair with her head leaning against the back.

It was several hours later when Sebastian turned the locks on his door and opened it. He chuckled softly and smiled at something Myrddin had just said. He was just about to reply when he looked in and saw Quin in the chair fast asleep. The smile left his face and he lowly called over his shoulder, "We have company, Myrddin." It wasn't as much a warning as just to let him know so he didn't freak out. Quin had changed quite a bit since he had last seen her; her hair was longer and she hadn't dyed it again so it was very black. She wasn't nearly as bony.. and she was wearing Myrddin's bathrobe. It looks like an oversized kimono on her with his flowered print and length. And why in the world she had taken one of his swords from his closet he didn't even care to guess at, but he picked her up with both arms from the chair as he juggled the sword in his left.

Myrddin walked in the door after Sebastian and closed and locked it behind them. He paused a moment as he stared at her in his bathrobe before muttering what sounded suspiciously like, "Well, that's a bathrobe I won't be wearing again." Once Quin was out of it, Myrddin moved the chair out of the walkway and put it off to the side as Sebastian walked up the flights of stairs to his preferred sitting room. They entered the room, and there was the unmistakable smell of something cooked from the kitchen. "Seems like she cooked something. Just made herself at home." Myrddin muttered under his breath, but went off to the kitchen to dig up some coffee and to see what Quin had cooked.

Sebastian laid Quin down on the couch carefully before going to his bedroom closet and depositing the sword where he assumed it had come from. He returned to the living room and saw she was still fast asleep, but had curled up on her side while he had been gone that short while. He saw it would be futile to wake her until she was ready and went to the kitchen to see what she had cooked. Myrddin had already put the burner on to warm up the contents of a pot and was sniffing at it uneasily. "Looks like ramen." Myrddin said disdainfully. "She didn't cook it long enough."

"Then cook it a little longer." Sebastian said with a hint of humor in his voice as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and gave him a kiss at the base of his jaw line. A soft chuckle confirmed his tease as his hands went down around Myrddin's waist.

A cocky smirk played across Myrddin's face as he replied, "Just what do you think I'm doing, Mister?" He put down the spoon and turned in Sebastian's arms and planted a kiss on his boyfriend's lips. The tender moment between the two lovers was interrupted by a low moan from the den, bringing them back to the present. Their limbs unlocked and Myrddin went back to heating the ramen as Sebastian walked into the living room to check on Quin.

Quin hated waking up in a disoriented state, and since she had been out cold when Sebastian had moved her, the location was not what she had been expecting when she opened her eyes. A sharp pain from the hole in the arm she was laying on made her wince and moan low in pain. She sat up as Sebastian walked into the room from the kitchen and she nodded groggily in his direction before dragging her arm out of the sleeve of the bathrobe to let it be closer to her body. She needed to explain herself and why she showed up before bringing this mess out.

"Hey Bastian. How's Myrddin and.. things?" She managed a sheepish grin before ducking her head. Maybe that hadn't been the best way to open up the conversation. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with her left hand and shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry for dropping in so unexpectedly... but something came up."

"I figured that out. Do you care to tell me or do I have to guess?" Sebastian returned in his calm, soothing voice. He sat down in one of his oversized chairs watching Quin carefully. He didn't know her that well, but something was bothering her. He could also smell blood on her; in fact he had smelled it since he had first gotten close to her. She was hurt, but she was doing her best to hide it from him. He wasn't impatient, and she would tell him in her own time.

Myrddin snorted from the kitchen at Quin's question. It didn't take a genius to figure out this wasn't a social call. When she showed up, she always wanted something from Sebastian. "So, what do you want this time, Quin? You know you only come around to ask for something."

"Ding. Ding. Ding." Quin quipped back sarcastically. "Hello to you too, Myrdie." She sighed and crossed her arms, holding the right with her left and crinkled her noise at the shoot of pain that went up and down her arm. "But I guess I deserve that. I don't come around for social calls, do I?" She fell silent and drew her feet underneath her in a quick second. "Look. It isn't about money. I have a job. All I need is some time and then I'll be out of your hair again. I just need someplace save to figure some things out." She put emphasis on the word safe, and then figured she would need a reason why she needed a safe place to be. They deserved the entire story if they were even to think of putting up with her. "Look. How much do you hear about recent events?"

Sebastian furrowed his brow at Quin and pursed his lips. "Well, I do have a television, Quin. What in particular are you wanting me to know?" By this time, Myrddin had finished heating the ramen and had put it in a bowl to walk into the living room to plop down on the other end of the couch to Quin.

"Well, there was a recent murder on the pier. I think they said it was a drug deal gone bad or something and an undercover cop got killed. That ain't true though." Myrddin slurped noisily at the ramen and Quin paused, looking at him a moment before returning her attention to Sebastian. "The guy who wasn't a cop was... an interest of mine. Of a kind anyway. We were on a walk and the mob was there and iced the cop." She shifted on the couch uncomfortably, thinking that it was getting warm quite suddenly in the room. She hadn't thought it was that warm before, did she? She diverted her eyes as she continued her tale, "They killed the guy because he saw. They tried to get me too, but I was too fast for them." She paused a moment and shrugged, "Well, sorta. Think it's infected."

"I went to the diner afterwards, and two new guys came in questioning my coworkers, but they never ordered anything. I think they were the mob. If they found my workplace, they must've found my pad by now. I really don't want to put you guys out any, but I really don't have any place else to go."

Myrddin wrinkled his nose and slurped some more noodles down. They were hot, but they weren't fresh. Fresh is best. Silence reigned after her last sentence, Sebastian seemingly dumbstruck by what she witnessed. He took the opportunity to ask pointedly, "So, you witnessed a murder, got shot, aren't going to the police who could protect you a lot better than Sebastian here, aaaaand to top it off, you're in my bathrobe without any clothes on. Speaking of, where are they?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Dryer." She mumbled back softly, her eyes downcast. She unfolded her legs from underneath her and stood, still holding her arm through the bathrobe. "I'll go get them." She headed towards the laundry room, then turned and shrugged, "Look. You don't have to help me anymore than you already have.. but I would appreciate it." She turned around before the prickling tears found a way out of her eyes and down her face. She already knew what she had to do to get the mob off her tail.. she just didn't want to come to terms with it just yet.

Myrddin looked over at Sebastian with a Cheshire grin on his face as he slurped some more noodles down. Sebastian's face was a quizzical expression torn between wanting to help her and being fed up. Myrddin waited until he was sure Quin was out of earshot before talking to Sebastian. "So hun. What are we going to do? Help her? Kick her out to the curb? I don't know about you, but her story just doesn't add up to me."

Sebastian's gaze had been focused on where Quin was sitting, but when Myrddin spoke, he turned to look at him and leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "No, I agree. Some things don't add up. But she has asked for our help..."

"And I know what you want to do - be the chivalrous knight and save the day. She's asking for time and a place to stay now - what will it be later on? She might be related to you, but it is very distant - she doesn't even look like you. You've more than done your part to help her when you gave her the cash when she tried to rob you all those years ago." He smirked at his mate playfully, "I still can't comprehend why you did that. She made me almost have a heart attack and you give her money. What kind of image did that send, I wonder?"

Sebastian nodded, thinking on Myrddin's words before replying. "Would you instead have had me run her through with a sword without giving her a chance to explain herself? That would have left a mess to clean up afterwards. She was thinner than a rail when we first crossed paths, and I could hardly send her away without insuring she wouldn't die the moment she walked out the door. In any case, it looks like she's much healthier than she was last time, and she's only asking for a place to stay for a short time. As big as this house is, she can easily lose herself in the rooms and we'd never have to see her as long as she's here."

"So you're going to let her stay? She hasn't even told you what her plans are while staying here. But.. it is your place. I don't think there's anything I can say that will sway you.." Myrddin trailed off with his voice turning coy. He set his ramen down on the table and went over to Sebastian and sat in his lap, curling his arms around his lover's neck with a smile. "But maybe there's something I could do? Besides, there would always be a chance she could walk in on us and not want to stay." He had been getting closer with each word until at last his nose was almost touching Sebastian's and he ended his sentence with a long, slow kiss.

Sebastian had put his arms around Myrddin when he sat in his lap, and the kiss was pure bliss until it ended. He pulled Myrddin closer to his body with a contented grin before uttering, "You know, ever since I turned you into a vampire, you've been more randy than ever."

Myrddin snuggled in his lover's arms and wrinkled his nose as he replied, "Well, the tumor doesn't trouble me anymore, either."

Quin found the laundry and dressed carefully. Her shirt still had a hole where the bullet went through it, but it wasn't soaking in crusty blood. The laundry room was warmer than the living room, but upon her inspection of her wound, she figured out why she felt so hot. The infection had spread up and down her arm and was an angry red where there wasn't a bandage covering the hole. The bandage was weeping bloody greenish yellow puss that could have only come from her wound. She sighed, shaking her head in disbelief as she rolled down her sleeve. She needed to go to the hospital, but she knew she couldn't. _The mob... the mob..._ she thought to herself as she felt her head going fuzzy. She steadied herself with the dryer and she was still half dressed without her pants on. If she fainted now, she would never hear the end of it. Another wave of dizziness passed over her and she knew she couldn't hold on to consciousness. _Well, at least I have on my underwear_, she thought to herself as the blackness took over before she thumped onto the floor.

Things were getting hot and heavy with Myrddin and Sebastian as they roved each others' bodies with their hands. Both were aroused as they kissed and caressed and petted each other. Myrddin was just beginning to drag Sebastian to their bedroom when Sebastian pulled back, remembering their visitor. With a particularly vile Gaelic curse, he kissed Myrddin passionately before holding his lover tightly with a long sigh.

"Quin is still here and could be back any moment now. We need to reign in our desires for now... but later..." Sebastian trailed off, the longing in his words undeniable. He smiled and kissed the tip of Myrddin's nose as he felt him snuggle into the embrace further. A low groan of disappointment came from Myrddin and Sebastian chuckled. "You only did it to yourself." Sebastian lifted his head and maneuvered Myrddin to where he could see where Quin disappeared off to and to see if she was coming back.

"Strange that she hasn't returned yet. I wonder what is keeping her?" He muttered softly. "It should not have taken more than ten minutes to change from your bathrobe into her own clothes."

A mumble came back from his chest, "I'll give it to her to keep from wearing it again.. and it really hasn't been that long." Myrddin didn't want to move from Sebastian's arms, but Sebastian untangled himself from Myrddin's arms and walked towards the laundry room. "You know, I'm sure she's fine and just taking her time dressing." With his hands on his hips, Myrddin meandered over to the couch and plopped down, taming his lust down. Crossing his legs and arms, he waited for Sebastian and Quin to return.

Sebastian walked down the hallway and called Quin's name, but there wasn't an answer. The door to the laundry room was half closed, and though he knocked before he entered, there still wasn't a response from the other side. Truly concerned now, he opened the door halfway only to hear a loud "thump" as it hit a solid object on the floor that prevented it from moving further. Sticking his head around the door, he swore loudly as he saw Quin's inert body on the floor. Stepping around the door carefully, he saw her eyes were glazed over and open and her fingers were twitching jerkily occasionally. Kneeling, he shook his head in relief as he found she still had a pulse.

She was running a fever, and he noticed that her entire right arm was a blistered looking red. Why hadn't he noticed earlier when he picked her up she was warmer than a human should have been? He cursed his lack of attention and rolled up her sleeve to look under the dressing she had placed on herself. He winced as he saw the grossly infected color on her arm. There was no way he could take care of something this infected. He closed her eyes before tugging on her pants and zipping them for her. Picking her up in his arms like a china doll, he turned off the light on the way out of the room as he walked back to the living room.

Myrddin had his arms and legs crossed still when Sebastian came back in the room carrying Quin. Sebastian's serious and concerned look removed the sarcastic words from Myrddin's mouth and made him stand without a word. He followed Sebastian downstairs and out the door to the car where he placed Quin in the backseat. Myrddin was mildly confused; he had thought Sebastian was going to allow Quin to stay? Sebastian saw the confusion on Myrddin's face and went back to his front door to lock it, making sure his keys were in his pocket first.

When he returned, he motioned for Myrddin to get in the car before getting in the driver's seat. His voice was tight with concern and mild anger as he spoke. "Quin needs a hospital. She was saying it mildly when she called her wound infected."

Myrddin frowned but buckled up as Sebastian started the car and reversed hard. "Oh..kay. How badly is it infected?" A cutting look from Sebastian answered that question and Myrddin nodded. "Wonder why she didn't say something sooner," he muttered under his breath. The question hung in the air for the rest of the drive unanswered.


	3. Chapter 3

Quin's eyes fluttered weakly before opening on a dimly lit white room. It didn't register at first, the curtain, the stiff bed and pillows, or the cabinet that flushed to the wall... then it hit her. She was in a hospital! She tried to bolt upright, but a pain that shot through her back made her gasp in pain and she laid back down. She writhed for a moment, then saw the IV that was hooked up to her arm. She looked at it in wonder for a moment, then scanned the room. No one was there at the moment. Last thing she remembered was being at Sebastian's.. maybe he had dropped her off and left her there. Finding the controls on the bed, she lifted herself up in the bed. There wasn't a calendar, but the clock said that it was 4:23. Whether that was AM or PM, she couldn't tell because the window was behind closed blinds.

She felt so weak, and she couldn't figure out why. She had collapsed at Sebastian's; she struggled to remember why, then it struck her that it was because she had been shot. The mob! Mental curses went through her mind as she struggled to sit up and finally succeeded. The pain from her back was still there, but she stretched and looked at the arm where she was shot. It was bandaged tightly so she could barely move it and her fingers looked puffy and swollen. She wiggled them to her satisfaction that they were still attached to her body before wondering when the nurse was going to be come in to check on her next. She didn't want to be here when that happened, but with all the wires attached to her body, she wasn't sure if she could just walk out of the hospital as is. She needed to get them off of her before she made her getaway.

The door opened and she froze like a deer in the headlights, afraid that it was going to be one of the mob, but it was only a petite nurse in purple scrubs. The nurse smiled at her when she saw Quin was awake, and began checking the machines as she began chattering. "It's good to see you're awake! We were going to start taking bets on you this evening on if you'd wake up or not. If your uncle hadn't brought you in when he did, why you might even be alive! Medicine can work miracles, but some miracles can't be wrought, you know what I mean?" The bubbly personality was irritating Quin and she shook her head.

"My.. uncle?" Quin asked languidly. She assumed that whatever drugs they had given her were still in her system and her earlier activity was making her want to sleep again. The nurse looked at her when she spoke, looking a bit startled that she was talking back to her at all, and leaned Quin back down on the bed flat.

"yeah. Your uncle's been here since you've been admitted. Well, he isn't here now because we sent him home. I mean, it's been a week since you've been admitted and the poor guy hadn't slept the entire time. It was kind of creepy actually. He'd just be sitting in the corner and the next minute, he'd be over our shoulder and asking questions. His boyfriend took him home though; we didn't want to have to admit your uncle too."

"Oh..." Quin said relaxed. The entire time she had been watched over by Sebastian personally. It gave her a kind of warm, fuzzy feeling inside. A smile must've crept over her face as she heard the news because the nurse giggled.

"Go on sweetie. Get some more sleep. Your body's been through quite a shock and needs its rest. We'll call your uncle and tell him that you woke up." She had finished her diagnostics and turned to walk away.

Almost as an afterthought, Quin muttered softly as she drifted off again, "Don't... have t'... Let... sleep."

At around 4:45 pm, Myrddin's cell phone rang. He glared at it from across the room, but he got out of the bed and rummaged in his pants to dig it out before the person on the other end hung up. "'Lo?" the other end was silent for a moment and he was on the verge of hanging up when a female voice got on the line.

"Hello? Is Mr Sebastian Hector there?" The sugary sweet voice was almost gag worthy, but Myrddin looked over at the bed where Sebastian had dozed off.

"He's asleep right now. Could I take a message?" He replied with a smile on his lips. It had been a week in coming and he was honestly as tired as his lover right now. He really would have preferred to throw the phone across the room with a scream on his lips when it rang. Only his sister called him and she had a personalized ring, so it could have only been the hospital about Quin.

"Oh. I'm sorry." The voice said without sounding a bit of it. "Ah... is this Myrddin instead? There's a note in the file that I can talk with you instead. Mr Hector's niece woke up for a short time a moment ago. He said to call if there was any change in her condition and we just wanted to let him know."

"Alright. Thank you for calling. I'll let him know." He closed his phone, cutting off the conversation and placed it back into his pocket before stalking back over to the bed and crawling next to his lover's warm body. With a few sweet kisses, Sebastian was awake and responding quite well to Myrddin's advances.

"What better way to be awakened?" Sebastian cooed at Myrddin as they snuggled together in a cocoon of blankets.

"Well, there's some more good news. Quin woke up for a short time at the hospital." Myrddin purred back, nibbling at Sebastian's fingertips lightly. The mere passing mention of Quin shattered the cozy atmosphere immediately. Sebastian's body stiffened and he detached himself from Myrddin and climbed out of bed, leaving Myrddin looking on disappointed.

"You know, she probably went back to sleep immediately and is going to be a few more hours at least because of the meds." Myrddin groused softly, crossing his arms as he laid back on the pillows. Sebastian had walked into his closet despite his logic and he sighed discontentedly The girl knew how to ruin a mood even when she wasn't there!

When Sebastian came out of the closet, he was still naked, but he had fresh clothes in his arms. He cast a quick glance to where Myrddin was in a pout and grinned playfully. "Well, are you just going to lay there or get some clothes so we can go take a shower?" Myrddin brightened considerably and tossed the covers off to jump out of the bed to follow Sebastian into the shower.

It was close to midnight before Quin's eyes fluttered open again, this time landing on two men that seemed to be expecting her to wake up at any moment. "Hey... sugarpop." Her words were slightly slurred, and it seemed she had trouble focusing on the two, but she had a big grin on her face. Sebastian leaned forward and took Quin's left hand gently. Myrddin didn't move from his spot in the corner where he had his arms crossed. He was almost dozing off when she had spoke.

"Quin. How are you feeling?" His voice was a soft tone you might use with an injured animal. She didn't jerk her hand back like he had expected her to, and she was very relaxed, almost like she was still asleep.

"Pri'y po-ees," she replied with a goofy grin. The words were drawn out in a childish tone and Myrddin chuckled softly behind Sebastian.

"That must be some powerful drugs they have her on." At Myrddin's voice, Quin's head swayed to pinpoint it.

"Ba' bo. No bi-it fo-ou." She said in the same tone, but giggled afterwards and twitched her right hand outwards, like she was giving something to someone or something.

"Is... this normal?" Sebastian looked over at Myrddin, bewildered at Quin's behavior.

"For Quin, or for recovery?" Myrddin replied, standing and walking over to the bedside. "Uhm. No idea."

Quin's face changed dramatically, twisting into a concerned look, and her voice was mature. "We aren't going to make our bills this month, Hugh. If you didn't drink away your income, we might be able to get ahead." Then it twisted into a snarl of hatred as Quin barked, "You stupid bitch! If you hadn't of gotten pregnant with THAT thing, we wouldn't need more money to begin with!" Quin's hand tightened on Sebastian's, her eyes focused on events only she could see. "How many times do I have to tell you? She's yours. I haven't been with anyone else since we were married... unlike someone I could mention." The gentle voice was back, patient but at the end with just a twinge of annoyance.

Like a train wreck, they just couldn't look away. Quin's repressed memory was like a Jerry Springer episode, only better. The enraged look returned, "You bitch! How dare you accuse me of sleeping around! As I remember, when you got pregnant we hadn't slept together for two weeks!" The patient voice was back with anger and hurt lacing its edges. "Hugh, you were drunk like you are now. You just don't remember it. I thought having your child would settle you down some, but it's done just the opposite!" The edges of her eyes crinkled in a wince and her hand twitched in Sebastian's.

Her face transformed into another snarl as her right hand seemed to grip an invisible gun. "You think you can talk to me like that?! Fuck you! Fuck this!" Her index finger pulled on the invisible trigger twice, and her head turned back to Myrddin before saying, "Stupid mutt! Shut the fuck up!" and her index finger pulled back again. Quin struggled to bring her right hand upward, but because of the binding was unable to before she pulled the invisible trigger once more. Quin pulled her left hand from Sebastian's grip and started wailing loudly as she brought it to her face. She curled into a fetal position as tears began rolling down her face and her ungodly wailing summoned a nurse.

The two men exchanged glances of dumbfounded horror as the nurse pushed them out of the way and asked what they had done to make her start wailing and crying. Sebastian sputtered for a moment before regaining his composure. "I did nothing, madam! She woke up and began spouting nonsense before she began wailing like a banshee!"

The nurse shot him a concerned look as she checked Quin's chart. "She should've been out cold for another couple of hours at least." She fiddled with QUin's IV a moment and as Quin's wailings lessened in power before stopping altogether. The nurse uncurled Quin's form on the bed before turning to the two men and saying sternly. "If she makes a fuss again, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I understand you're her family, but I can't have her disturbing the other patients, especially this late at night."

"But-" Myrddin began before Sebastian sent him a look.

"Yes, we understand your reasoning." Sebastian said cooly. He waited until she left before walking over to Myrddin and hugged him. Still embraced by his lover, he turned to view Quin, who had started curling up her body and was laying on her injured right arm.

"But we didn't even do anything to make her start screaming." Myrddin muttered under his breath, his eyes on Quin as well. "But this explains more than I wantd to know about her."

Sebastian's eyes were sad, mulling over what Quin had just revealed. Did she even know what she had said to them? He doubted it. She never talked about her past when she was with them; but as she had pointed out a week ago, she didn't exactly come to make social calls either.


	4. Chapter 4

Quin's eyes fluttered open on a strange scene. Last place she remembered being was Sebastian's laundry room. Now she was in a pure white room with a pain like a vice gripping her head. It looked kind of like a hospital. In fact, it probably was since she had all sorts of wires sticking out of her attaching to bags that were dripping something into her. There in the corner, watching like a hen was Sebastian. A small smile fluttered on her face as she realized the giant man was asleep - or what seemed like it - with Myrddin stretched on top of his own body.

How long had she been out? She looked down to the arm that had had the gunshot wound to find it had a new dressing on it, but below it the skin was her normal olive coloring. Her arm felt stiff and she flexed her fingers with a wince. Her entire body felt stiff. With a soft grunt, she sat up in the bed with the help of the side rails and stretched her back. "Ooh.. that feels good." she muttered softly. She heard her muscles pop as she stretched, and she was careful not too pull too far away from the things dripping stuff into her. She almost did anyway, but a sharp poke from under her skin made her pull back.

She stretched her neck next, rubbing the back of it to stretch the muscles with her left as the right was rather incapacitated. The stretch had tired her out, but she was wide awake, even with her headache. She looked back to Sebastian with Myrddin to find Sebastian staring at her silently. She forced a smile and wiggled her left fingers at him. "G'mornin' beautiful. How're you? I feel like I've been run over by a Mack truck."

Sebastian struggled for a sitting position under Myrddin, but ended up moving him barely to the side to gain a few inches in the reclining chair. "I'm glad to see that you're alright. Well, relatively. They wanted to amputate your arm, but I refused it. You've been here a week and a half."

"Ugh.. that long?" she leaned back, wincing. She began tabulating what she thought that the hospital stay would cost her, but gave up with a sigh a few seconds into it. "I'm gonna end up being your indentured servant to pay this off, ain't I?"

Sebastian's lips went into a shadow of a smile, but he shook his head, "An amusing idea, but that won't be necessary for now. Did you dream any?" The ghostly smile vanished and Quin read the concern in his eyes and voice. She hesitated, but shook her head.

"Uh.. not that I can remember. I never remember any of my dreams. Why ya ask?"

Myrddin had woken from listening to Sebastian's rumbling voice through his chest, and turned his head, "The psycho's awake now? Oh goodie."

"That's a little harsh." Sebastian said blandly back to Myrddin. "But yes." He hesitated before looking Quin in the eyes. "After your fever broke, you would occasionally wake up and start talking to yourself. None of them were as violent as the first one but..." his voice trailed off and he looked away as he waved his right hand. He didn't finish the sentence, but Quin felt herself tense. Unconsciously she began digging herself back in the hard hospital bed. She had nowhere to go, but she certainly didn't want to be here at this place and time.

Myrddin finished Sebastian's sentence. "What he's trying to get across is that you were yapping a lot about some pretty heavy stuff. Why didn't you go to the police?"

Panic and fear trickled down her back, and the heart monitor sped up. "A-a-a-ab-b-bout w-w-what exactly?" she stammered out finally. She refused to look at them to answer their questions. What had she said? How much did they know?

Sebastian and Myrddin exchanged amused, yet impatient glances. Sebastian is the one who answered her in his smooth, calming voice, "We aren't going to call the authorities unless you want us to. No one except us and the nurses have been in here to take care of you."

Myrddin brightened up and got off of Sebastian, picking up a mirror from the bedside table and handing it to her. "Oh! Look at yourself! What do you think?"

"Bwuh?" Quin uttered as she accepted the mirror without thinking. Shooting a confused look to Sebastian, she looked in the mirror and her jaw dropped. Her heart rate had gone back to normal as she stared at her reflection. "Wow." was all she could utter. She looked like one of the runway goddesses on a magazine, or at least in her mind she did. "Oh... wow!" She looked up with a wide grin on her face at Myrddin and then Sebastian, "Who?"

Myrddin's returning grin answered her question and he sat at Sebastian's feet on the extended footstool. "I couldn't resist."

"I like it. Thanks!" She admired her reflection a little longer in the mirror before putting it back on the table. A nervous chuckle went through her, "You know, this is the first time there's been makeup on my face?"

"No it isn't. You've been out more than a week. I had to do something to amuse myself while I was here." Myrddin returned cheekily.

Quin laughed softly. "Damn, now I wish I had been awake to see it!"

"He took pictures." Sebastian said in an amused tone.

"And video!" Myrddin said, bouncing a little excitedly. "But to hear the audio you have to download it."

"Ah-kay." Quin said softly, her grin slipping. Video of what? At that moment, her stomach decided it had enough of her chatter and began doing some of its own. "Hm... that's a familiar sound." she said with a sleepy smirk. "But.. I'm tired now. Sorry I couldn't be more amusing in my corpse-like state over the week, Myrddie." Her eyes were half closed, but her mind shut down before that and didn't even hear the whispered well wishes of the two men.

When Quin next opened her eyes, the room was dimmer than the last time she remembered. Her head still hurt like a vice had it, but other than that she had a good buzz going on. Sebastian had his eyes closed, but she wasn't fooled. The giant man could pretend to be asleep and be wide awake. She used the controls to sit up in the bed, the low hum of the motor breaking the silence in the room. She as she suspected, he opened his eyes and she grinned at him. "Sorry to wake ya." Her voice was halfway between a croak and a crackle and she cleared her dry throat as best she could. "That really didn't sound that good.." she said to herself softly, and pleased with the cleaner sound, repeated herself.

"You didn't." He replied. He was actually just beginning to doze off. Myrddin had gone off to work, which left him amusement-less, and he didn't like to think of what he put his relation through. She might be distant, but she was still his blood... and he could have prevented it all.

"Fooled me." She smirked, then looked around the room. "Where's Myrddin?" She asked curiously. She could tell he was distracted, but she didn't know by what.

"Work. How are you feeling?" He replied, concern hinted in his voice.

"Ugh. Better than I was. Now all I have is a headache and a buzz." She paused, the smile going from her face. "What was the story you gave them for all the scars?" She wasn't really concerned what the hospital thought, but she didn't want Sebastian to be blamed for them.

"Childhood incidents that happened before my custody." Sebastian said with a shrug. "It also explained your nightmares sufficiently."

"Nightmares..? But I don't-" Quin began defiantly before she saw the impatient flash that went through Sebastian's eyes. She became more subdued immediately, reminding herself that he didn't have to do all he'd done for her. She sighed and shook her head, looking down and not meeting his eyes, "What all did I say?"

"We don't have to talk about that now if you don't want to." He said gently. He was hoping she wouldn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to have to relive those moments himself; it had been bad enough the first time around.

"No.. I want to know." she said softly. "If there's anything I can explain away, it'll make me feel better. You shouldn't've heard it. My past ain't your concern."

Sebastian winced. You have no idea how wrong you are about that. He thought to himself. He hesitated, gathering his words before he spoke. "At this time, I don't want to know any more than I've already learned. Any explanations that you want to give can wait until we get back home."

"Home?" Quin echoed, surprised. She had never thought of Sebastian's as a home before. Or maybe she was just misunderstanding him. Wait until he got home and took her with him. That's what he meant. She nodded, "Okay then. I'll wait." There was a silent pause and Quin looked towards the door before turning back to Sebastian. "Myrddin put clown makeup on me, didn't he?"

The random subject change startled Sebastian, and when it registered what she said, he chuckled. "You'll have to wait for the photos for that answer."

"Oh, that is so a yes. He would not resist that temptation." Quin grinned and shook her head. "Not like he can blackmail me with it though. He don't know anyone I do except you." She shrugged, the smile still on her lips as she looked away. The smile slowly faded as her mind wandered, wondering what she had said to them that she didn't remember. She felt Sebastian's eyes still on her and she looked back at him. His eyes were distant even though he was staring straight at her and the smile had faded from his lips. Somehow, she knew he was thinking of the same thing as she was, only he knew what she said. "Bastian?" she asked softly, not wanting to disturb his reverie.

Sebastian was indeed thinking of her past, and how he could have changed it. She had grown strong despite the hardships she had faced - or perhaps because of them. Her saying his name brought him back into focus and he raised his eyebrow, "Hm?"

"Just wanted to say... thank you." Quin said softly. "You know.. for everything." She wasn't used to thanking people for kindness, and the words sounded awkward to her.

_If you only knew... you wouldn't be thanking me_, he thought to himself. But instead of saying that, he gave her a weak smile, "You're welcome."


	5. Chapter 5

It was several more days before the hospital allowed Quin to be released, and she still had to take antibiotics to make sure the infection was out of her system. Sebastian was kind enough to drive her by her apartment and let her get some clean clothes to change into. He was content to stay in the car when she suggested it when she explained that it was a "rough" neighborhood. She came back fifteen minutes later with a bag that looked as big as herself. Ever the gentleman, he got out and helped her with the bag, and he was certain that it weighed as much as she did, although he didn't say anything about it. They traveled in silence to his place, where he set her up in a guest bedroom. Several hours later when Myrddin came back from work, they sat down in the living room with ramen for herself and Myrddin while Sebastian was looking calmly at them.

It was several bites into the ramen before Quin looked up. "So, how long are we not going to talk about what you heard in the hospital?" Her tone was quiet, and almost immediately she went back to sipping her soup.

Both Myrddin and Sebastian exchanged expressions of shock at her frankness before recovering. It was as if she had just asked them to pass the salt. "Uhm.. well..." Myrddin started before looking over to Sebastian. How do you start a conversation about that?

Sebastian, seeing that Myrddin was stuck, rolled his eyes, "We'll talk about it after dinner. It's easier to explain if you saw what we saw. Myrddin had the idea to tape your... episodes." He paused, not knowing what to call them other than that. "I believe he's already downloaded them onto the computer so we can head there after you finish eating."

"Episodes? Sounds like a psycho." Quin muttered, but nodded her agreement on the arrangement. Her curiosity was simply bursting about that look. What could be so bad? They finished the dinner and headed into the room where Myrddin sat down in front of the computer and clicked through far too fast for her own eyes to follow. Before she knew it, she was watching herself in the hospital. She leaned forward and squinted to see better and Myrddin maximized it and turned up the audio.

_Quin writhed on the bed. It seemed that she had her arms restrained, but her lower body was free and it was twisting its best to get away from whatever force was holding her down. "Vance! Stop! Let me go!" She paused, her face twisting into a look of disgust. "You sick bastard! I'll never do that!" A raw scream came from her throat and her entire body convulsed once. Her voice became softer and in a hoarse, pleading tone she went through a mantra of "No. Stop. Please. Stop." Then her body stiffened with a yelp and she screamed, "You fucking bastards! That HURT!" She screamed another raw scream as it seemed that she went through the chant of "No Stop Please Stop" again._

"Stop. Stop." Quin finally said, unfortunately in the same tone as the audio. Finally she said louder, "Turn it off!" It felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured right down her back. Sebastian was right behind her or she would have been out the door the moment she saw herself say Vance's name. She knew exactly what was going on. She tried to keep herself in the present, but the audio was like she was there again. They might have been clueless on the replies he had given, but it wasn't that hard for her to remember them. She wasn't sure how long this clip was, but the real thing went on far longer than that short clip. She hadn't realized it until now, but she was clenching the back of the chair so hard her knuckles were white. She loosened her grip on the chair, but didn't remove her hand from the back of it.

"I shouldn't have ate before watching this. Bad memories." she finally said with a sigh. "Vance... I thought he was a good person when I first met him. I made a mistake and paid for it." She turned back to the screen where Myrddin had paused the video. "A bad mistake." Sebastian put a hand on her left shoulder comfortingly, and she couldn't help but tremble at it. It wasn't she was scared of him - not by any stretch. But even the gentlest touch wasn't welcome at the moment. She was doing her damnedest not to break down and cry - she knew there was more after this, but her breaths were becoming jagged as if she wanted to cry. She had to spit this out before she DID start crying while she was speaking. "Him. Two others. Forced... All night."

The room became silent except for the hum of the computer's motor. Finally, she touched Sebastian's hand with her left, still holding the chair with her right and brushed his hand off her shoulder. It crossed her mind, but she didn't think these two would take advantage of her like that. Sebastian was dedicated to Myrddin, and Myrddin was flaming as a grill for Sebastian. This gave her the very odd feeling of security and she relaxed some, reminding herself that memories can only hurt if you let them. And if they try, let's see them get past a knight and his squire. "Let's see the next one."

"Are you sure?" Sebastian asked with concern. He had thought it had been something like that the first time he saw it in the hospital, but her saying only confirmed it. And she had not looked good as she had watched the clip. What would she think when he told her what she had said at the beginning?

"Yeah. Memories can't hurt a person more than the first time around." she replied, but it didn't sound like she was convinced of that. "Let's go to the next one." Myrddin closed out of that file and opened another one.

"You're a lot calmer than I thought you'd be about this." Myrddin muttered as he hit play.

_Quin was stock still in the bed, but her eyes were wide open, the black pupils unseeing. The audio was soft, and Myrddin turned it up to the max, barely making it audible. "Why am I in here? What did I do? Please let me out. Please... there's something in here. I promise I'll be good. Please just let me out? Mom? Dad?" A small whimper came from Quin and she moved over in the bed, brushing herself slightly. "Please, let me out! It's moving!" A small eek and a twitch in the bed indicated a jump. "Mom! Thank y-!" an ear piercing shriek split the word, and Quin made a noise like the air was pushed out of her. Another whimper and all that was left was Quin sobbing as she curled up on her side._

Quin thought herself looked calmer in this video, and by this time Myrddin had put some makeup on her. She had to admit she didn't look half bad, except her eyes seemed too dark with the mascara. She tilted her head, slightly confused with the audio. At the end of it, she still looked slightly puzzled. She didn't say anything as the video ended. It didn't sound familiar to her.

"Quin?" Sebastian prompted.

"I need to hear that one again. I... haven't called anyone Mom or Dad for a very, very long time." Quin said, troubled she couldn't remember that incident. Myrddin replayed it, and Quin concentrated on the words and sensations behind it. At the thanks, Quin snapped her fingers. "Got it. I was about five or six. Parents locked me in their closet with their snake and gave me a rabbit head to feed to him." She frowned, "Ugh. That was sick. Don't even remember why they did that. The blood got all over me and the stuff in the closet and I ended up clubbing the snake with the rabbit head after I quit crying." She smirked triumphantly for a moment before adding. "They got a bigger snake after that."

"What?!" Sebastian asked incredulously. Myrddin just looked over his shoulder at her like he doubted her.

Quin shook her head and shrugged. "Okay, you caught me in a fib. That ain't what happened. But I don't know what did. I was locked in a closet for something they thought I did. It happened a lot when I was younger and it's hard to tell one from another. As for that thing that was in there with me, it could have just been my imagination."

"Still, you were locked in a closet..." Sebastian began.

"Don't read too much into it. Like I said, it happened a lot. Hah. At least I don't have a phobia of them. I would have hid under your bed instead." She looked up and grinned at the blond man. "Would you have poked your sword under the bed until I came out then?" She chuckled and leaned against him gently, indicating she was joking with him. "Don't answer that."

Myrddin was glaring at Quin warningly, indicating he didn't like her flirting with his man. She blissfully ignored him, staring up at Sebastian with a smirk on her face. But Myrddin was puzzled at her reactions. She went from fearful and almost about to cry to joking with this last one. He smelled something fishy.

Her head lowered to the floor and a sad expression crossed her face. "Hey though.. Really, I've seen enough for now. Let's pick this up tomorrow or sometime later. I think I'm gonna go to bed."

Myrddin shrugged and closed out the program. He didn't care one way or another. Sebastian on the other hand caught Quin's hand as she headed past him and bowed to raise it to his lips. "Sleep well." Quin let her hand slip through his and she muttered something back to him that sounded like, "Yeah.. you too." Sebastian watched her walk out the door before sighing and leaning on the chair himself. "What did I do?" he asked Myrddin.

"Aww..." Myrddin said, getting up and hugging his boyfriend tightly. "You did what you had to do at the time. You had no idea any of that would happen to her." He released one of his hands and trailed it up to Sebastian's jaw line and traced it gently and turned Sebastian's head towards him. "Hey, the thing is now she's with us - safe and alive. Nothing bad can happen to her now. You took care of that mob thing, didn't you?"

Sebastian sighed and nodded, "Yes. Was a pain in the ass to clear, but I took care of it." It had in fact taken only one call to get it cleared up. All he had to do was call Boss and everything was cleared nicely. If it hadn't worked out, he could have always called Alexandra and have her check with her sources.

Myrddin smiled coyly, leaning in closer. "Then you're free tonight?"

Sebastian chuckled and nodded. "For you, I am." He leaned down and kissed the younger man, who returned the kiss fiercely.

"Bedroom?" Myrddin asked hopefully with a grin after the kiss broke.

"Bedroom." Sebastian agreed, leading his lover out the door and towards their room. Because THAT door had a newly installed lock on it.

Quin in the meantime had walked to the guest bedroom Sebastian had decided to room her in. She had closed the door in case... sounds traveled. She then climbed into her bed and curled into a protective ball under the covers and wept in her cocoon. Now, she said she hadn't remembered the closet, but she felt that Sebastian didn't need to hear it either. He was upset because of what had happened to her, and she didn't know why. He was a stranger, no connection, and yet he had taken her in, lodged her, and when her life was in danger... he had saved her. It confused her, yet she was grateful.

It had happened later, when she was eight. She had told her mom of the time that she was being molested by her dad, but she wasn't believed. Her punishment had been dealt by her mother. She was lashed with a belt and thrown into the closet. She wasn't tall enough to reach the light switch, and she was still scared of the dark at the time. Then she heard the skittering. Her mom had opened the door long enough just to give her dinner and shove her back in the dark with the bugs. She had hit her head when she had been pushed back into the closet, and that's why she had started crying.

She cried herself to sleep and for the first time she remembered her dreams the next day. A bug that had Vance's face had been raping her in a closet while her foster parents, Sebastian, and Myrddin had been laughing in the background.


	6. Chapter 6

It was almost eleven before the two men stirred from their night reverie, and almost noon before they left the bed to take a shower and dress in bathrobes. Sebastian was the first to notice that Quin wasn't in the den and kitchenette area. There wasn't even her usual empty bowl in the sink. This sent an alarm off in his head, though Myrddin didn't seem to notice as he chattered on. This was distracting Sebastian well enough to when Myrddin flopped down on the couch and asked what he thought, he only nodded. Myrddin smirked, "You think we should cut your hair? Really?"

"Huh? What?" Sebastian said, this bringing him back to the present. He was caught off guard by that question and he reviewed what he thought Myrddin had been saying and didn't think there had been anything about cutting his hair.

"You're distracted." Myrddin said bluntly. "What do you have your mind on? No, wait. It's a who that starts with a Q, am I right?" He smirked as he stretched out on the couch.

"Yes." Sebastian said with a sigh. "Is it that obvious?"

"Don't make me cheer you up again." Myrddin said coyly, narrowing his eyes seductively at his lover. "She probably just hasn't woke up yet."

"It's after noon, and she didn't have the lovely time that we did last night." Sebastian returned evenly, not being drawn in by his lover's voice and glance. "I think I need to check on her."

Myrddin only shrugged in defeat. "Go then. Don't blame me if she throws something at you for waking her up. I'll be in here." He crossed his legs and turned on the television to the news as Sebastian walked down the stairs to the guest room.

The door was closed, and he knocked on it. "Hello? Quin? This is Sebastian. May I come in?" There wasn't any answer from her side, so he went ahead and entered. The lights were still off, but light was streaming through the window. "Quin?" There was a rolled cocoon of blankets near the head of the bed where the pillows were. He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. The cocoon hadn't moved since he entered, but he knew that's where she was. Gently, he folded down the covers until he saw her black hair. "Quin?"

It wasn't that Quin was being lazy - she just didn't want to get up. She had woken up while the sun was still down, and had stayed awake until she was able to watch the sun come up. She went back to bed in hopes of going to sleep. She waited for a long time, but she couldn't get back to sleep. She decided to just stay in bed, even though her stomach growled for food. She'd gone without before, she could survive a little longer without it now. Sebastian knocking on her door was a surprise, but she thought he'd just go away if she ignored him. She didn't expect him to enter and then sit on the bed with her.

Her skin began to crawl as she remembered her dream.. and then he rolled down the covers to show her face. In his own charming way, he spoke some other language in an angry tone. Like she hadn't heard it all before.. how gentlemanly. I probably have raccoon eyes, she thought to herself. She frowned, but she didn't raise her eyes. She didn't feel like speaking to him, besides, she was semi-enjoying watching how his bathrobe opened slightly when he sat and leaned forward.

"How can you sleep like that?" He asked quietly, his voice patient. His first thought had been she was somehow dead, but he knew that couldn't be true, especially when she frowned at his swear.

"Thought it was obvious I wasn't." Quin smarted back in a mutter. "It feels safe." She added, cutting her eyes at him without turning her head.

"You didn't sleep last night?" Sebastian inquired.

"A little. But you didn't either." Quin smirked and sat up, drawing her knees in. "Neither did Myrddin." She paused, seeing the changed expression of "I don't know what you're talking about!" "Oh, don't play dumb. I had to get up last night to pee. Both of you are kinda loud too. Thanks for putting me down here and not closer."

Sebastian's expression went to sheepish a moment before serious again, catching that she hadn't slept much. "Dreams woke you?" He asked concerned.

"Nightmares." Quin agreed blandly. "Why do people want to remember dreams? They suck."

"Do you want to tell me about them?" Sebastian asked gently.

"No. I don't want to." Quin said softly. The two sat in silence for a moment before Quin moved, scooting next to Sebastian. "But hold me and I'll tell you." The question had innocent intention behind it and Sebastian's arms enfolded her in comfort. She took a deep breath, smelling the clean scent of soap on him. This was not the Sebastian of her dreams, she reminded herself.

"Well, last night, what I said about the closet wasn't true." She felt him tense up and she sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. "I didn't want to lie to you, but I saw how upset you got about the first memory. I didn't want to worry you more.. and I can't figure out why you'd even worry that much about me. Heck, if I hadn't tried to steal from you, you wouldn't even know me and I'd probably be dead in a gutter." That didn't get him any less tense, and he put his chin on her head. In fact, he hugged her tighter. She squirmed, and he loosened his grip.

"My dream started off with my foster parents." She said softly. "I had just accused my dad of raping me to my mom. She yelled and screamed, with him denying it the entire time. They tossed me in a closet where Vance was waiting for me. Only it wasn't Vance, it was a huge cockroach with his face." She shuddered, remembering the sensation of being held by the cockroach arms, and closed her eyes. "Outside the closet were you, Myrddin, and my parents laughing and watching while the Vance-roach raped me." Quin didn't attempt to break Sebastian's grip on her waist again, even though it tightened as he spoke a few soft words in that lyrical language. It made her feel safe in his arms.

"I would not do that, Quin." Sebastian said softly. "Never."

"I know," she replied just as softly. "I just didn't want to go back to sleep to dream like that again." She fell silent for a moment, then whispered, "I don't want to see anymore from the hospital. I don't like seeing my memories but... you said.. the most violent was the first. Tell me it. The short version."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Sebastian was debating on whether to get her into the living room so they wouldn't be alone and so close - if Myrddin walked in... well, he'd rather not think of that. But her being in his arms would give him the option to hold her if she tried to to run away or to comfort her if she wanted him to. With a sigh, he made his choice. "Your mother and father were having trouble paying the bills because of your father's drinking habits. He came home drunk one day, got into an argument with your mother, shot her, the dog, then himself. You were taken to foster care after that."

Quin was still with shock. "My parents? My real mom and dad?" she said barely above a whisper. "God... I always thought it was because they just didn't want me... that they were out there somewhere and that I'd meet them someday and get to say 'Screw you!' to them for leaving." She felt Sebastian's arms go tighter around her, but she didn't struggle against the embrace. Instead she just went limp against him and gave a half hearted laugh. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes, knew it would come any moment and she wasn't going to stop them. "My dad shot the dog... before he shot himself. Must've thought.. it was me. I... must've been.. one ugly baby." She laughed once in a garble before breaking down in tears.

Sebastian could hear it in her voice, feel it in the way she leaned against him. When the dam broke, he let her cry it out, murmuring soft soothing Gaelic words to her. She squirmed in his arms, and turned to face him, burying her face in his chest and continued crying while he rubbed her back. Finally her tears slackened when the front of his bathrobe was soaked with her tears and snot. Sniffling and half sobbing still, she rubbed at her eyes and pulled away from him, looking down. "I.. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for." Sebastian said tenderly, one hand still on her shoulder.

Quin shook her head and snorted. "No. Your robe. It's covered in my snot," She said, still choked up. She had always hoped she had some family out there somewhere... but with that news, she had to face that she was truly alone in this world. Sebastian and Myrddin had each other. What's that old saying? Three's company? They didn't need her, nor did they even have to put up with her now. She wiped at her eyes again, almost wanting to cry again. "How much do I owe you?"

Sebastian furrowed his brow at the sudden change of subject. He was suddenly reminded of the quick jerky movements she used to make and the fast scurrying walk she had. She wanted to run. He could just.. sense it. Which isn't something he used to be able to sense. He kept one hand on her shoulder and lifted her chin up for her to look into his eyes. "You don't owe me anything. Just calm down before you decide to run away from here. It is safe for you to stay here however long you want to. Remember the mob is still after you?" Well, they technically weren't, but he hoped the fear of them catching and killing her would make her decide to stay.

A bold and brazen challenge flashed into Quin's eyes. "Let 'em catch me."

Despair flooded Sebastian; she must be in a suicidal mode again. Almost as quickly his chivalrous nature took over - Not if he could help it! His voice was firm and resolute when he spoke to her. "Not anytime soon. Come on, let's get some clothes and get you a shower." He almost dragged her from the bed and over to the dresser, where he picked a few clothes out for her. "Now, do you want me march you to the shower or do you have to be dragged?"

Quin was surprised as her challenge was answered with Sebastian's own resolute force. She was surprised to see him rummage through her clothes and pick out a top, pants, and underclothes for her before tossing them at her. Quin was unsure of what to make of his question, she certainly didn't want to be dragged. "Uh... march?" This wasn't a new side to Sebastian - he had too much practice with it. She led the way, scurrying up the stairs to the master bath down the hall from their bedroom. As big as this house was, there had to have been another full bath somewhere, but Sebastian didn't correct her as she went past the living room where Myrddin was watching the news channel. She averted her eyes, knowing that if he saw her, he'd know she'd been crying.

Myrddin looked up as they entered and waved. Quin was being marched along with clothes. And Sebastian didn't look like he had any damage to him, but his chest was soaking wet. Ah! That explains what took so long. He rolled his eyes as Sebastian made a hand signal for the bathroom. Figures, he thought as he shrugged and went back to watching the television. The bathroom door had just closed when he realized, _Wait - are they going in together?!_


	7. Chapter 7

It didn't register until after she heard the lock click on the door that Sebastian had walked in right behind her. She turned quickly and stared. Well, she hadn't thought Sebastian was like _that_! He had Myrddin! Her heart started beating fast, and he locked eyes with her.

Sebastian hadn't even thought of what Quin might skew his actions into. He read it all in her fearful eyes and he rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No. Just no." He walked over to the shower and opened the door, checking to make sure he and Myrddin didn't leave anything from this morning for her to come across. Satisfied they didn't, he turned to where Quin hadn't moved from her spot, just staring at him with that fearful gaze. "Get undressed and shower." He said shortly, walking past her and opening the linen closet. He withdrew a towel and tossed it at her, and got out another bathrobe to change into. He had his back to her to and he took off his own robe before slipping the new one on.

Quin just watched him, her mind going faster that it could even keep up with. What was he going to do to her? It went through several scenarios, her ending up the worst for each of them. Her heart jumped in her throat as he took off his bathrobe and let it drop to the ground, giving her a good look at his posterior. _Hey.. he has a pretty hot..._ She flushed red and looked away. He was Myrddin's! She shouldn't even think like that! But still... when she looked back he had already put on another robe. She couldn't help but feel just the slightest disappointment go through her.

Sebastian didn't hear Quin moving, and looked over his shoulder at her as he tied the front of his robe. She still hadn't moved. He reminded himself to be patient with her, and he turned and walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. "Quin, you need to take a shower. It will make you feel better."

The moment Sebastian touched her shoulder and squeezed, it was like an electric jolt was sent through her that woke her up. "What?! With you here?!" She shrieked far too loudly for the room. "No!!"

The room echoed for a moment as Sebastian closed his eyes, grateful for the thick soundproof insulation in the walls, reminding himself that he needed to look into it for his bedroom now. He opened his eyes, looking down at Quin with a fierce resolution. "Yes with me here. I am not going to leave you alone."

"No!!" Quin shrieked again, a defiant look in her eyes. "I am NOT going to take a shower with you here!"

"You will because I am not leaving." He replied, just as firm. There was a silent battle of wills with both staring each other down to see who would turn away first. Quin was the first to look away, muttering a defeated, "Fine. Don't see why though."

She was scowling when she looked back at him and crossed her arms as she looked at him, "Turn around. And you stay out of the shower."

"Agreed." He immediately said, nodding. He turned and took a few steps away from her, hearing the soft plop of clothes on the linoleum. He smirked in triumph. She was almost as stubborn as he was. He clasped his hands behind him, listening to Quin's mutterings. She was basically grousing that he won the stare down.

Quin kept muttering as she stripped, not believing that Sebastian won. "He looks scary when he wants to. Only reason he won. Better than him being _in_ the shower with me, I guess." She kept stripping until she was bare, feeling very exposed in the cold room. She took off the gunshot dressing, not taking the time to take in its appearance. She wrapped the towel around herself, feeling better with something on and padded over to the shower and got in, sliding it closed perhaps a bit harder than it should have been. The frosted glass trembled with the force and she took off her towel and threw it over the top, leaving most of it on the other side, but just enough to where it would stay on the top instead of sliding down. She turned on the shower, then screeched a swear before saying, "That's cold!"

Sebastian couldn't help it. He laughed before saying in an amused tone, "Turn on the hot, then."

Quin frowned at his laugh, calling over the stall door, "Smartass!" as she turned on the hot water to make the cold a little more bearable. She scrubbed herself down with soap, then washed her hair with it. Her short hair was already wet, why not go ahead and make it squeak? Sebastian was so silent, she could almost pretend that he wasn't out there. The water did relax her some and she examined the gunshot wound. It had rough edges of new pink skin, but the center was still raw and oozing. It looked healthy at least. The other scars on her body she didn't take a good look at. She knew where they were, and her body was riddled with them. The one on her rear from Sebastian's sword, even though it was faint. Back of her left arm, one and a half inch. Right lower leg, from the knee to the ankle, curved. Stomach and backside, a curve tracing the line of her pelvic bone. She had had countless bruises over her entire body her entire life besides those defects. Pain wasn't new to her, but she wasn't its friend either. She rinsed her hair again before shutting off the water and snatching the towel from the door.

She dried her body and hair off in the shower, patting the open wound dry and wrapped the towel around herself before stepping out of the shower. Her hair was still damp, but it wasn't soaking. She opened the door to the shower and peeked out, making sure Sebastian wasn't looking. True to his word, he hadn't turned around and was still waiting. She stepped out and closed the shower door quietly and started going through her clothes, putting on her underclothes first before she took off the towel. She looked over at Sebastian, still standing like a stiff guard. "Okay, you can turn around now."

Sebastian turned and appraised her and the wound in a glance, "Do you want help dressing that?"

"Huh? Wha..?" Quin looked down at the wound and registered what he said. She shrugged, "Sure, why not? But wait until I get some pants on." As she said that, she picked up the the pants Sebastian had picked out for her. They were a ratty pair of blue jeans that were frayed at hems and they slipped over her frame easily still. She hadn't gained that much weight in the hospital from their food. She buttoned and zipped them before nodding at Sebastian, who had already dug out the necessaries from the linen closet.

Sebastian walked over to Quin as she turned towards the mirror and watched his reflection coming behind her. There was a small smirk on her face watching him, then she said, "Take a walk on the wild side often?"

He had just happened to pick out the leopard print bathrobe that Myrddin had given to him as a gift to match that thong she had come across. It was hard to believe she still remembered that. He just shook his head with a smile, declining that comment. Instead, he changed the subject. "Would you like me to dress it for you?"

Quin watched him in the mirror asking rhetorically, "I can't see the back of it, now can I?" She lifted her arm at his direction and wrinkled her nose as he applied the medicated ointment on and spread it gently on both sides of the wound. "That stuff smells. How long do I have to keep putting it on?"

"Until it heals." Sebastian returned calmly. He expertly put the cotton bandage on her arm before taping it to her thin arm all the way around on both sides. It was surprising that the shot hadn't shattered her arm, the hospital said. He watched her in the mirror and she watched him. Then a flush stole over her cheeks.

"Uh, Sebastian. You're pretty much naked, and I'm half dressed." Quin said uncomfortably. She had just realized all he had on was his bathrobe. He had a chance while she was in the shower to do something, and he respected her enough not to. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, it's just that she wanted to bend over and pick up her shirt.

"Very observant of you." Sebastian said softly with a hand on her shoulder.

_Oh to heck with it._ She thought to herself and ducked to pick up her shirt. Sebastian, not knowing what she was doing stepped back and allowed her to get her shirt. She put it on while she was bent over and pulled it down with one hand as she stood up. In her other hand she had her dirty clothes. She smirked at him and poked him in the stomach as she passed him. "Better get out of here before Myrddin gets some naughty ideas about what we're doing in here.. and could you get on some clothes?" She raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner and stashed her clothes in the dirty clothes bin. She unlocked the door and had just opened it when Sebastian caught it and held it in place.

"Quin, one question. When you leave, what if the mob catches up with you?" Sebastian's concerned words were barely above a whisper, but Quin heard them loud and clear. She was touched that he cared for her, but it only bewildered her why he would.

"What'll happen, happens." Quin said matter-of-factly. "If they do.. they won't take me without a fight." It wasn't the blind battle-cry that she had said earlier, and Sebastian accepted it and let the door open. He had to tell her sooner rather than later that she still had a family or she'd end up killing herself by taking unnecessary risks. Quin scuttled out under his arm and went towards the living room where Myrddin was still watching the news. He went towards his bedroom to get dressed, however. It didn't even pass his mind to warn Quin that Myrddin was in as undressed a state as himself.

Myrddin had his arms crossed, trying to pay attention to the news, but also wanting to hear what was going on in the bathroom. Then he remembered the extra insulation that Sebastian had put in the bathroom. He grumbled to himself, but he listened out for the door to open. He didn't even want to keep watch on the time, but found himself unable to resist. _Five... Ten... Fifteen.. Twenty..._ Each passing minute left Myrddin thinking on all the possibilities that Quin could be doing to his Sebastian. He found himself defending Sebastian's integrity - Sebastian was with HIM. _He wouldn't cheat on me! Wouldn't even dream of it! Especially with his umpteenth great granddaughter! I'm sure he had a good reason for going in there with her. But that doesn't mean I have to **like** it._ The door finally opened, but no one stepped out immediately and he heard Sebastian and Quin's whispered voices. He crossed his arms in a huff and finally heard footsteps headed towards him. When he looked up expecting Sebastian, it was only Quin and his face showed his displeasure. It became even more pained when she came over to him and sat down next to him, giving him a hug. "Eeeck! What are you doing?!" He said, trying to squirm to get away.

"Your boyfriend is scary, Myrddin. And I'm taking it out on you." Quin said, snuggling next to him even closer.

"Augh!" Myrddin screeched as he stood, leaving Quin laying on the couch where he had just been sitting. "Stay away from me!"

Quin had glee dancing in her eyes - Myrddin was fun to horse around with. It was even funnier when she realized he too was only in a bathrobe... and the front was open. She did her best to keep from blushing and looking away. She wondered how long it would take before he realized? "You smell like Sebastian."

Myrddin was upset. Quin was playing with him, and he wasn't in the mood for it. "Yeah? Well, well... So do you!" He sputtered back. He was supposed to be mad at her! Trying to steal Sebastian from him! Speaking of... "Where is he anyway?"

Quin couldn't stand it anymore. She barked a short laugh. "It's not intentional... Like your flashing of me. Not that I'm _not_ enjoying the view. Sebastian's in the bedroom getting on clothes, maybe you should join him... to take them off." She grinned and curled up on the soft couch cushion. Myrddin's eyes widened and looked down, and he pursed his lips as he pulled his bathrobe closed and stalked to the bedroom. With another soft laugh, she stretched out on the couch and tried to pay attention to the news. She couldn't help but think of Myrddin's reaction. It put a smile on her face as she felt her eyelids getting heavy. _I'll just close my eyes for a minute.._ she thought to herself.

Myrddin stalked to the bedroom, highly embarrassed that he had exposed himself to Quin without realizing._ I hope she doesn't tell Sebastian! _"Sebastian! Quin's being annoying!" Myrddin whined, wondering where his boyfriend was in the bedroom.

Sebastian sighed. He was going to have to have a sit-down with these two, he could already tell. They were like bickering siblings. "Be nice to her." He called from his closet. Other than weapons, he actually did have clothes hanging in there. He still had on his robe when Myrddin came in and clung to his side.

"But it's her with the problem!" Myrddin pouted as he hugged Sebastian. "Why'd you go in the bathroom with her?"

"Because I told her about her mother and father. She believes she's alone in this world and was feeling overly... cavalier at the time. I wanted to make sure she didn't do something that we would have to clean up later." Sebastian looked through his shirts, finally picking out a white shirt and put it on without buttoning it. Walking down a little further, Myrddin clinging the entire way, he began looking at pants.

"You didn't get in the shower with her? Did you?!" Myrddin asked in a pout. He personally hoped that Sebastian hadn't. He'd have to do something nasty to Quin... without Sebastian learning about it.

"Of course not." Sebastian scoffed, wondering how Myrddin could even think such a thing. "For one, she's my descendant. Two.." he quickly swept Myrddin off his feet and kissed him on the lips. "it is _you_ who are my lover."

He said it with such passion, Myrddin's entire body sent a shiver of anticipation from his head to his feet. Without knowing it, Myrddin's face beamed into a smile and he wrapped his arms around his lover with a squeal of delight. He KNEW Sebastian wouldn't two-time him! Myrddin returned his kiss, and Sebastian put Myrddin back on his feet. Breaking the kiss with a smile, he went back to looking at pants. "And my love needs to get on some clothes." He chuckled softly.

Sebastian picked out their clothing and both he and Myrddin finished dressing. They chattered amicably until they were through and they walked back into the living room to find Quin stretched and sacked out on the couch. Myrddin saw this and was starting to stalk silently towards her to wake her up to get back his spot when Sebastian touched his shoulder as he passed. At this, instead of waking Quin up, Myrddin went over and sat in Sebastian's lap.

"She didn't sleep much last night." Sebastian said quietly, nuzzling Myrddin's neck. "She had nightmares."

"Oh." Myrddin said pleasantly. He honestly didn't care as long as Sebastian kept doing _that_. He eyed Quin critically, noticing her clothes. "Where'd she get her clothes from? They look awful." He commented.

"Would you like to go shopping for new clothes for her since she's asleep?" Sebastian asked, curious. He hadn't even thought to get her new clothes. Surely she'd want some if she were to be living with them.

"Any clothes I pick?" Myrddin asked a little too happily.

"Within reason." Sebastian replied warningly. "Nothing too skimpy, no extremely bright colors, and when Quin wakes up, she gets to approve it."

That ruined Myrddin's high just a little, but he nodded. "Sure. But dresses are okay?" Sebastian hesitated, wondering what Quin would look like in a dress. He nodded, thinking to himself she could always have them return it. Myrddin cheered and a grin and kissed Sebastian. This gave him a perfect outlet to both punish Quin and keep himself busy.


	8. Chapter 8

Quin found herself sinking into a deep sleep. It wasn't like the last sleep she had, where panic and fear reigned. A quiet stillness fell over her heart in the blackness. Nothing was there, she was alone - something she didn't find that unnerving, considering that's how she always felt. Then sounds came to her ears, laughter, clattering metal, and the bustle of people. _This is starting to get to be a strange dream..._ Quin thought to herself. Then the scene opened on what looked to be a festival of some kind. There was a thick, cold fog around her feet, but even that thinned to barely a few wisps. Then something struck her as odd - she noticed that some of them were dressed in costumes. A majority in fact. She looked down at herself, and found herself in something she hadn't seen in years - a ratty black shirt and the pants that had been ruined at Sebastian's. She didn't want to stand out in the crowd, but a shock was given to her as someone inadvertently walked right through her. An icy chill went down her spine. She knew she wasn't dead, only dreaming. But it still felt as if someone had walked over her grave.

She looked up to see who walked through her and stopped. She'd know the gentle giant anywhere, but it didn't even seem that he noticed that he passed through her. She followed him, entranced at his look. His long, shiny blond hair swung lazily in the breeze, and he was in a very fancy getup. Adoration flooded her for how very gallant he looked. She began to jog to keep up with him - it was obvious he was headed to a specific place.

"Quin, dear, please wait." Sebastian called ahead of him. Her heart jumped into her throat and she stopped, hoping she hadn't heard him wrong. There was a warmth in his voice, something she heard more than once when he spoke to Myrddin. But.. Sebastian knew her? She hurried her step to get to his side, ignoring the people she walked through to do so.

"Daddy! Hurry up! I want to get there before it starts!" Quin heard it, but didn't believe it. That was _her voice_! She looked ahead of Sebastian as he stopped. She turned and saw... herself. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at dream-Quin. Her black hair was past her rear and braided fancily. Her eyes were a bright lavender instead of Quin's own dull grey-purple. Her skin was a semi-dark tan instead of Quin's own olive tone. She was wearing a long blue dress and.. to Quin's dismay, this Quin was taller than herself. Dream-Quin grabbed Sebastian's hand and began dragging him along. "Daddy! It's going to start at any time!"

"You've been to a Ren faire before. They're always the same." Sebastian said amused. "Why are you so interested to see the tournaments?"

Dream-Quin stopped and turned to Sebastian. Quin could see there was adoration.. and something else.. in her eyes. "Because I know you can defeat every single one of them. Now come on! I want to see them make fools of themselves!"

Quin followed behind the two dream people and stood as they sat down to watch the contestants. Her attention was on these two. Why was she calling Sebastian "Daddy"? Why did he use such affection when talking with her? Their hands were clasped together affectionately. There was a call for challengers from the crowd for the reigning champion and dream-Quin turned to Sebastian.

"You should do it, Daddy! It'll be fun!" There was a twinkle of mischief in dream-Quin's eyes as she spoke.

"It wouldn't be fair to them, would it? They do this for fun - let them have their fun." Sebastian said calmly. He patted dream-Quin's hand.

"So do you." dream-Quin pouted, sending Quin into a tizzy to want to hurt herself. "Wait, isn't there a rule of chivalry if a lady drops her kerchief on the field, the first knight that picks it up must be her champion?" She smirked challengingly to Sebastian, producing a handkerchief from... well, Quin didn't notice where it came from, but it was in her hand. Dream-Quin held the kerchief out towards the field, wiggling it with her fingertips.

"Well... yes." Sebastian said haltingly, looking at the kerchief. "But Quin..."

Quin couldn't take it anymore. This version of herself was a little bitch! The rest of Sebastian's words were drowned out by her own as well as Quin's reply back while she went on a rant. "You arrogant little bitch! Stop manipulating him! You don't even have the right to call him Dad! _Your_ dad died when you were a baby! He killed your mom and wanted to kill _you_ too, but he missed and killed the dog!" They were ignoring her and Quin saw red. She snatched the kerchief from dream-Quin's hand and pulled it towards Sebastian, but she only had enough strength to yank it from her hands and not keep it so it started falling down. She was pleased to see Sebastian quickly catch it before it fell on the ground.

When he looked up, she could swear that he saw her because he paused before looking over to the dream-Quin and handed her kerchief back. "My dear, you really need to be more careful."

"B-but... it was taken from me! I didn't drop it Daddy!" Dream-Quin looked quite a bit flabbergasted as he handed her kerchief back to her. She leaned back in her chair and watched the new challengers silently, pouting in her chair.

Sebastian, instead of looking at the new contestants, looked over at Quin, the question in his eyes obvious - "Who or what are you?"

"You see me?" Quin asked softly. In response, she saw him dip his head before looking back at the contestants. Apparently, dream-Quin was entirely oblivious to her, but not him. She leaned in and put her hand on his shoulder. Leaning down to his ear, she said the only thing that made sense to her. "I am the Quin that could have been." She could have swore she saw a tremble go through him and she let go of his shoulder. _But maybe that was only my imagination_, she thought to herself as she walked away from the two. She didn't want to be in the presence of herself any longer. She made herself sick.

She wandered in the crowd, looking at the different wares. It was so unusual - it felt like stepping back in time, but she was well aware she was in the present. She tried to see what her hair looked like in a passing mirror, but she had no reflection. Not that she expected one, but it would be nice to know if her hair was the vivid purple from her past; it felt as short as it was in her past. She was passing a sword stand and almost didn't notice the seller. He looked very bored because there weren't many people interested in looking at his swords at the moment. She did a double take and gawked. It was Myrddin! He looked younger than he did now, and she assumed that since he wasn't the one hanging on Sebastian's arm that they weren't together yet. She felt herself smirk. If there was anything she could do in this dream it would be getting Sebastian and Myrddin together. They worked too well together. Plus, she'd do anything to spite herself in this place.

She had to find Sebastian and herself again. Luckily, finding Sebastian was easy because of his height and hair. She was faster than running, and she was gliding through the crowd, looking for him. She found them at another sword stand, dream-Quin testing one of the swords while Sebastian looked on. She looked on, wondering how she was going to get them to go over to Myrddin's. _Wait! This is MY dream! I can do what I want!_ Quin grinned at herself for not realizing this sooner. She walked over to the pair and stepped in place with dream-Quin. A very short mental battle with dream-Quin occurred with Quin as the clear victor. Dream-Quin melted into a puddle of whines and crying in her mind as she came to the forefront. She opened her eyes on Sebastian's concerned face.

"Are you alright, my dear?" He asked concerned as he helped her to her feet. A flush crossed her face and she nodded demurely, as Dream-Quin-like as she could.

"Oh, I'm fine Daddy. I must've overheated in this dress." Quin found herself saying. She fanned herself with a hand and started walking to where she thought Myrddin's sword stand was. She automatically navigated through the crowd with ease and grace - something she knew she didn't have. She stood tall and straight and Sebastian followed her lead. She looked over her shoulder with a smile and waited for him to catch up before catching his hand in hers. "Come on, I want to show you someone."

Sebastian gave her a quizzical look, but followed still as they navigated the stalls. Finally, she spotted Myrddin again. Taking a few more steps so it would be obvious who it was she was talking about, she stopped and turned to Sebastian. "What do you think?" She tilted her head coquettishly. It seemed natural for her to do that.

"Of what?" Sebastian asked curiously, honestly not knowing what Quin wanted his opinion on. He looked around the yard, but didn't see anything that stood out.

Quin nudged him and pointed at Myrddin, who was now talking to a customer. "There. That place."

"Hm..." Sebastian said, judging the wares of swords. "From a distance, it appears they're just the mass commercial ones that you are so fond of because of their light weight. What in particular caught your eye?"

The customer that had been talking with Myrddin walked off with a sword after an exchange of money. Quin nudged Sebastian again and grinned, "I was talking about the keep. He's kind of cute, don't you think?"

Sebastian looked at Myrddin, and the two caught each other's eyes at just that point. "Uh.." He looked down at Quin, "Since when did you start noticing guys?!" There was a ring of alarm in his voice and Quin mentally chuckled. She really could believe that Sebastian was her father with that question.

"Well, _Daddy_, I am growing up." Quin replied with a smile and a roll of her eyes. "His name's Myrddin, what do you think of that?" Sebastian didn't answer, but looked at him again.

"He's really nice from what I hear." Quin paused, then added, "From the other keeps, that is." She suddenly knew she made a mistake because her inner captured Quin started laughing manically.

"When did you ask about him?" Sebastian said suspiciously. She hadn't left his side since they got there and they hadn't gotten to this portion of the faire yet. Something was wrong. He had known it since she had passed out. He had seen a shadow of something walk into her. She had been acting peculiar since then... and her eyes weren't the same. It was as if she had been possessed.

Quin knew her mistake then. _Crap!_ she thought. "Uh.. right then." She forced a wicked smile on her face. "If you don't go talk to him, I will." She then began walking towards Myrddin's stand, hoping Sebastian would stop her, but he let her walk over alone. Cursing herself when she noticed he didn't come, she smiled at Myrddin. "Hi there. Could I see your sword?"

Myrddin looked taken aback by her question, "Wh..wha?!" This strange girl came to her from out of nowhere and asked.. THAT? Well, not from nowhere, she had been talking to that handsome blond man just a moment ago.

Quin wondered what was so difficult about her question before she realized how she had worded it. "Oh, my bad. I didn't mean it _that_ way." She laughed softly, "Your swords. The things you sell."

"Oh.. uh.. sure." Jerkily he waved at the table. "There ya are. They're all hand-made by a friend of mine. He had a preoccupation today and asked me to watch the place for him."

"So, handmade. Not bad." Quin sounded less than enthused about them. They were all razor sharp from what she saw, and she picked up one, handling it herself and nodding at the weight like she knew what she was doing. "Is the blond man coming over here yet?" she asked casually. She didn't want to turn around to give away she was hoping he would come over.

"The blond..?" Myrddin was quite confused. He thought this was about swords. Now she's asking about the blond guy? He looked over to where he last saw him and saw him still staring at the stand. "No. Why? Are you two together?"

Quin smirked slightly, then picked up the sword and held it out, looking down the edge of it and cutting a glance over at Sebastian, who hadn't moved an inch since she had walked over. She put the sword back on the table before her more klutzy nature took over. "Not really, but kinda sorta. We came to the faire together. He's my Dad. And he's single." she added casually.

"Wow. Really? You two look nothing alike." Myrddin commented skeptically, looking from the man to this woman.

"We get that a lot." Quin grinned, feeling that was the appropriate thing to say. She looked over her shoulder, giving Sebastian a look that said, "GET OVER HERE," following it with a short tug of her head. "My name is Quin, yours is Myrddin, right?"

Sebastian was watching Quin like a hawk. She was possessed. That was the only explanation for it. She would never be apart from him to visit a store. And when did she start noticing guys?! Wait.. that shadow and soft voice. So like his own Quin's at the tournament. Could it be possible that it was doing this? But what was the point? Make her appear more outgoing? Introduce him to... wait, that had to be it. Then came the head tug with that LOOK. With a sigh, he decided to just follow this out wherever it might lead and began walking to the two.

Myrddin nodded shortly, "Yeah. It is." He looked up, seeing the blond man come over. "He's coming over." There was a strange sense of elation saying that, even though he didn't know why.

Quin looked over at him, knowing why he sounded so happy, even though he didn't. She grinned, "His name is Sebastian. You'll be happy together." She realized how odd it was she said this, and he was only a few steps away when Quin felt herself leaving the exterior and went interior to find the dream-Quin's self. Finding the dream-Quin pouting in a dark corner, she picked her up and dusted her rumpled self off.

"Now, I know you're angry at me for taking over. But Myrddin and Sebastian need to be together. They'll make each other very happy. Be nice to Myrddin. He can be an ass sometimes, but overlook it for Sebastian... for your Dad. He deserves to be happier than what you make him. And I want you to straighten up your act. You're a spoiled little princess, and I will NOT stand for me to be like that. If I have to, I'll come back and kick your ass myself." Quin realized how ironic it was she was saying that to herself and she felt herself smile. She let her dream-self go to the surface while she found a tendril that led out.. or so she thought.

Instead of leading out of this darkness, it was traded for another and Sebastian was there instead. It wasn't hers, but the other Quin's. It was all good still. She wanted to tell him something too. "Sebastian?"

His self seemed stunned by this turn of events and turned to see who called him. "Quin? How... who?"

"Yes. I'm Quin. But not your Quin. Don't ask me how it works.. I just know. This guy Myrddin is really good and you'll be very happy with him. And quit saying yes to me all the time, please? You've made me into a spoiled brat. I've already talked to her about it, so she should be a teeny bit better on her own. Myrddin and Quin might not like each other at first, but please bear with it. It'll be worth it in the long run." She felt herself smiling again for a moment before a slow frown crossed her face. "And Sebastian..."

Sebastian waited for her to continue, but it seemed she was at a loss for words and a lost look was upon her face, "Yes?" He prompted.

Quin felt her time was getting short and felt herself starting to fade away. She had to wrap this up quickly. "Thank you." She finally said. He looked confused and she clarified quickly. "For being my family when I don't have one. For being a father. For loving me. Thank you.. thank you so much." She felt herself whispering these last words and felt herself fading away.

Sebastian felt himself fading at the same time, but he could only get out, "But Quin.. I..." before he jolted to his senses again. He had seen Quin fainting and caught her in his arms before she fell to the ground. Then his mind had blacked out while he was trying to shake her gently to her senses and calling her name. _Such a strange dream.._ he thought to himself. Quin was just coming round when a cup of water was beside Sebastian's head.

"Sometimes people can get overheated in their costumes. Here." The guy from the sword stand was offering it. Sebastian took it with one hand and put it to Quin's lips. "Thank you." he replied.

"Daddy.. I just had the strangest dream..." she murmured softly. She then looked over at the guy, "... Myrddin?" When the fellow nodded, a look of horror crossed her face and she looked at Sebastian. It plainly said, "Maybe that wasn't a dream afterall!"

As Sebastian helped Quin up, she noticed the swords, "Oh! Tell me about these, please!" She picked up a sword from the table and weighted it with one hand, nodding sagely. She might not have noticed, but both Sebastian and Myrddin saw that it was the same one she had put down earlier.

"Well... They're handmade..." Myrddin started.


	9. Chapter 9

"Okay, so I'm off to raid Quin's dresser to find her size." Myrddin said chirpily. With a kiss on his lover's lips, he bounced off to Quin's room while Sebastian sat there pondering with amusement his lover's quickly changing moods. He flipped on the television and kicked his feet up on a footstool as he listened to the History Channel. It wasn't thirty minutes later when he heard Myrddin running up the stairs. Sebastian couldn't even say a greeting before Myrddin panted out, "Nothing!! She. Has. Nothing!"

"Nothing?" Sebastian said with a slight tilt of his head. "But there are clothes in there. I just saw.."

"Nooo..." Myrddin shook his head and took a deep breath. "She has nothing in her size. Not even her pants! They're all too big for her. There's no way she's that size!"

"What about the pair she..." Sebastian began, but cut off when Myrddin shook his head and waved his hand.

"Oh no. The ones that she wore to the hospital? Even those didn't even want to stay on with you carrying her." Myrddin pointed at him for emphasis. He shook his head and sighed, eyeing Quin like a coyote after a porcupine as its next meal. "Oh no. Since nothing she has fits her, I need to get her size another way."

Sebastian saw where this was going. Myrddin worked at a morgue and the bodies came in naked. Apparently he had gotten in a habit of guessing the sizes of his vic.. _clients_. Sebastian corrected mentally, then thinking. _You do what you have to passing time_. Sebastian couldn't help but smile blandly at Myrddin. He'd have to say it to get Sebastian to do it. "And how do you suggest we do that?"

Myrddin looked at him with a distinctly uncomfortable look. "Uhm..She'llhavetobestrippedtogethersize." He said with one breath as he blushed red. Myrddin could handle dead women naked, but not the live ones. _Probably because the dead don't awaken and throw things at you if they catch you staring at them while they slept_, Myrddin thought to himself. Sebastian looked like he was enjoying Myrddin's predicament a little too much. "Hey now! I put clothes on dead women, I don't take them off so don't look at me like that!" He crossed his arms and pouted.

"Well, she does need to be moved from the couch anyway." Sebastian smiled at Myrddin's fidgeting. "Shall I move her to the bedroom and strip her so you can get the measurement?"

He uncrossed his arms as a relieved look crossed Myrddin's face and he nodded vigorously. It wasn't that he was perverted, he just really wanted to go shopping for some clothes for her that fit and weren't "Ragamuffin Chic". And if Quin knew that Myrddin laid a hand on her asleep and unconscious, he knew he'd never hear the end of it from her.

Sebastian got up, leaving the television on and went over to the couch. Quin was breathing deeply, a sign she was in a deep sleep, and Sebastian wondered if she were sleeping. She looked like a child while she was asleep, and he turned her over carefully and gathered her in his arms gently.

"Arr-gan... lil'... bish..." she muttered the moment he got her in his arms. The mutter was loud enough to be heard clearly and Sebastian froze, wondering if she was going to wake up, but she only snuggled into his arms and stayed asleep. With a sigh, he relaxed as he realized she was only talking in her sleep. With Myrddin following, he trekked his way to their bedroom and laid Quin on the bed carefully as Myrddin turned on the light. Proving how deeply in a sleep she was, she didn't curl into ball and laid stock still on the bed while he removed her clothes.

He had a bit of trouble with her pants, finding she had pinned them up on the inside to keep from falling off. Quite resourceful when he didn't recall her having a pin on her. When he stood back, she was undressed and Myrddin was eyeing her with a keen gaze. Sebastian found he was suddenly torn between being jealous and wanting to protect Quin from his lover's gaze. It was very confusing. He walked off to go get a bathrobe to cover her after Myrddin was done. He didn't think he could put that pin back in her pants.

Myrddin in return was jealous of Quin being held and undressed by Sebastian, until he realized there wasn't anything sexual about it. Sebastian was her umpteenth great-grandfather and his lover. Myrddin ignored the fact that he had asked Sebastian to undress her for him. He eyed Quin with a fixed gaze, ignoring the scars that he didn't know she had, pretending she was dead. That was the only way he could look at her without her clothes on. Finally, Myrddin nodded and averted his gaze as he said, "Okay. I got it."

Myrddin had just finished measuring her when he returned and Sebastian tossed his large leopard print bathrobe onto Quin's still form. It billowed out like a blanket on her form before settling flat. He walked over to the bedside table where his wallet was lying and pulled some cash from it and fished his car keys from his pants. _I really have to start thinking of a better place for my keys..._ he thought to himself. He passed both of them to Myrddin, "You have your cell, right?"

"Ah.. yeah. But you aren't going with me?" Myrddin had a slight whine in his voice at learning this. He had hoped Sebastian would be going with him.

"No. I'll stay here in case Quin wakes up. That way it won't be to an empty house." Sebastian replied as he maneuvered Myrddin out of the bedroom and turned off the lights.

"Oh... But there is a chance she'll be out for a few hours. Didn't you say she didn't sleep last night?" Myrddin continued to pout, hoping that he could change Sebastian's mind.

"It is possible, but it is also possible that she would awaken anyway. Remember the hospital? The nurses complained that she was drugged heavily enough to down a horse and she was still screaming." Sebastian said softly.

"But she's not being drugged right now." Myrddin returned, walking at Sebastian's direction. He had enough trust for his love to let him know if something would get in the way.

"Antibiotics?" Sebastian countered. "Also, this is a deep sleep. It was only after I requested they cut back the sleeping medication that she started sleeping without fits. It could be possible that she will start having another one of her fits in this state."

Myrddin continued to pout, mulling over the logic in this, but nodded, "Okay, fine. You can stay here. But next time we go shopping together." They were at the front door by the time Myrddin said this and Sebastian walked him to his car and gave him a passionate kiss goodbye._ It almost makes it worth leaving to get a kiss like that.._ Myrddin thought to himself with a grin. After he cranked up the car, Sebastian knocked on the glass and Myrddin rolled down the window and looked up at the towering man. "Yeeeeees?"

"Be careful love." Sebastian said tenderly and gave him a gentle kiss on his lips. Sebastian smiled coyly as he stepped back from the car. Myrddin was still for a few moments before getting a wicked grin on his face that clearly said, "Just wait until I get back." He watched the car roll down his driveway before reentering his residence and went back upstairs to the bedroom to check on Quin. She was still out like a light, but not even mumbling. He returned to the living room to see what he had missed on the History Channel.

Quin woke up cozy and warm lying on her backside, which was strange because she distinctly remembered falling asleep face down on the couch. She was covered in something fuzzy and soft and she snuggled it. She was on a bed, but it was a lot softer than the one Sebastian had given her to sleep in. Not that she was complaining - any bed is better than the floor, or a couch for that matter. She stretched underneath the fuzzy cover, enjoying the feel of it on her skin. Wait a minute - skin? She bolted upright in the dimly lit room with the fuzzy cover falling off the top portion of her body. Immediately goose bumps prickled her flesh and she laid back down and brought the cover back over her body.

_Good God it was cold! What did he have the setting on in here? Meat Locker?!_ She thought to herself as she shivered. She warmed up quickly underneath the fuzzy cover which she recognized as his bathrobe. Turning under the robe, she scooted down and found the cold armholes and shoved her arms through them._ They'll warm up soon, they'll warm up soon._ Quin thought with chattering teeth, bringing her arms underneath herself to quicken that idea. Once on her belly, she recognized that she was in Sebastian and Myrddin's bed. _Thank you so much for not putting me under the covers.._ she silently thanked Sebastian - or whoever - that decided to put her on the bed. Even if they did take her clothes off, they didn't put her under the covers.

Wrapping the robe tightly around her frame, she ambled out of bed with a half rolling motion and went over to the walk-in closet. The robe dragged behind her and she was determined to amend that. Examining herself, she saw where Sebastian's waist was supposed to be was past her hips and the excess that dragged on the ground were supposed to be for her legs. Raising the tie to her own waist, she wrapped herself tightly, putting the extra top portion on the inside of the tie. With a satisfied nod, she saw that the robe now came just to the ground and showed her toes underneath. With a clap, she turned off the light that had been left on, plunging the room into total darkness. Following the light from under the door, she went over and opened the door to the hallway. No doubt they had heard her already, but she needed to make a detour to the toilet before joining them. She shuffled down the cold hardwood floor to the living room, gave a small wave at them both and then made a sharp detour to the bathroom hall. It wasn't long before they heard that door close behind her.

"Didn't even say hi, Sebastian." Myrddin commented with a grin.

"Might not have been a good idea to try to stop her to get one." Sebastian responded lazily, holding Myrddin as he laid on his chest. "She has been asleep all day."

"Yeah.. that is tr- Hey! Wait, was that your bathrobe?" Myrddin looked in the direction of the bathroom, but didn't attempt to get up.

"I'm assuming so. Interesting alteration she made to it." Sebastian said in the same lazy tone. Myrddin had gotten back several hours ago and had made him glad he gave Myrddin that last kiss before he left. He was surprised how aggressive Myrddin was this time and also that Quin hadn't woke up in the middle of it. They had finished just a little over an hour ago, in fact.

Myrddin poked Sebastian with a finger, "Hun. That was a gift to you. She shouldn't have made any alterations at all to it." He had a frown on his face and it was clear he was upset with his tone of voice.

Sebastian winced from the location of the poke and looked at Myrddin, "Calm down. I'm sure they aren't permanent."

Myrddin muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "They better not be.." before they heard the door open and the swish of water before it closed again.

Quin padded down the hallway towards them and waved again, feeling refreshed, but now starving. "Hiya." She headed straight for kitchen past them, barely doing a double take on the way. "Do I want to know why it's a meat locker in here or what you two are doing under the blanket? Or are you under the blanket because it's a meat locker and you'd prefer each other's company to - like a sensible person - turning up the temperature? Really, I don't mind PDAs, but I do mind the cold." Her voice was rushed, and she pounced on the next subject as she rummaged in the fridge for something to eat. "Myrddin? Want something? To eat?"

Myrddin grinned at Sebastian. "Nope. I'm good." He hollered over Sebastian's shoulder at Quin. "Takeout's cold, but on the counter." They exchanged a grin as they heard the fridge close then a shriek of excitement from Quin of "Chinese!!" They heard a drawer open and close and Quin reappeared carrying one of the boxes of Chinese and was stabbing it with a fork before popping it into her mouth. She sat down in a chair across from them, eating a few more bites barely chewing before swallowing. Sebastian was amused, but not surprised. She hadn't eaten all day, after all. He just hoped she didn't choke on it.

Finally, she nodded and swallowed, looking very happy. "Oh, Chinese is good yes. Thank you so, so much. So how long have I been out?" She took another bite of the shrimp and broccoli dish as she waited for her answer. It was then she noticed more than a few bags beside the couch. And they weren't empty bags, either. Swallowing, she winced and asked. "Yikes. Who bought the store?" She actually put down her fork to ask this question and look at the two men.

"That would be Myrddin. Did you take your antibiotic?" Sebastian asked calmly.

"Starving. Eat now, take pill later. Says not to take on an empty stomach anyway." She crossed her legs under her and took another bite of Chinese. "Thanks for getting the shrimp and not the rat or cat, Myrddin. Assuming it was you that got the Chinese."

"Rat or cat?" Myrddin echoed confused. When Quin got a wicked grin and opened her mouth to answer, he cut her off. "Wait, never mind, I don't want to know."

Quin stuck her tongue out at him and ate another bite. "So what'd you get, Myrddie?"

Myrddin frowned and refused to answer, shaking his head. "Uh-huh. Going to have to find out yourself. After you eat." He said pointedly.

Quin turned to Sebastian with an eyebrow raised. "Do I want to know, or should I start running now?"

Sebastian smirked slightly, "I don't think you're going to get far in my bathrobe at night."

Quin paused, wincing, "I slept all day? Yikes. Good thing I don't have to go to w-" She cut herself off, swearing with a frown. "I bet I'm fired. Geez. Good thing I was paid on a daily basis."

Myrddin looked shocked, "You mean you have a job?"

Quin nodded, but frowned. "Had," she corrected. "Boss told me if I missed a day without calling to not even bother coming in again. Told him that was fine with me because if I didn't call that meant I'd be dead. Guess being in the hospital is as close as I can get to that." She ate a few more quick bites in silence, not really caring they were pretty much staring at her eating. She couldn't help she was hungry! Finishing the dish off and feeling somewhat satiated, she carried it back into the kitchen and took one of her pills dry before getting a glass of water to chase it down. Coming back into the living room, she nodded. "Okay. Tell me. What'd you get?"

Myrddin only shook his head. "No way. I told you, find out for yourself. The bags are right there."

"What kind of crazy would I be if I didn't assume there's a three headed cobra in one of those bags with all the death threats you give me?" Quin shot back, but got up and walked over to the bags and picked up one of the items out of the bag, a dark blue dress. She suddenly got a weird sense of déjà vû as she held it against the bathrobe and turned back to the boys. "Oh wow..." She said softly in admiration as she looked down. She couldn't shake the feeling that she'd seen this somewhere before.

"You like?" Myrddin asked, pleased at her silent reaction. It was better than her going haywire and throwing it at him.

"Yeah, but Myrddin..." Quin looked up and grinned at him, "I don't think it's going to fit you." Myrddin looked miffed and crossed his arms. Sebastian rolled his eyes, but grinned. Seeing this, Quin dropped her arms to her waist still holding the dress. "Aww.. Boss, don't pout. I love it, really I do. But you guys didn't have to buy me any clothes. I do have some."

"None that fit!" Myrddin crowed before Sebastian could say the same thing, only in a calmer tone.

"Well, I thought since you might be staying here a while, you would like some new clothing.. just in case." Sebastian added.

"Huh.. Just in case?" Quin said softly, looking at the soft dark blue material. She shook her head with a soft laugh. "You guys are just too much. Really." She folded the dress carefully and put it back in the bag and picked out something in another bag. It was a dark purple shirt that had a matching short bottom. She wasn't sure if it were shorts or a skirt, and she didn't care to find out at the moment. It looked a lot smaller than the shirts that she was used to wearing, but she somehow just knew it'd fit her. She looked at Myrddin and grinned. "Great job on the clothes, Boss. What are we going to do next for girly bonding? Paint our fingernails and gossip about boys while we sit around in PJs reading _Vogue_?" She stuck out her tongue to show that she was just joking and crouched down next to the bags to see what else she could find.


	10. Chapter 10

Sebastian watched with mild amusement in Quin's obvious delight at going through the bags' items. She didn't seem to even notice or care that neither he nor Myrddin were moving an inch to help her go through the bags. Myrddin had gotten mostly purple and blue garments, or combinations of them. There was a vivid dark green cloth that flashed a moment before in the last bag Quin found the more flamboyantly colored clothes. He cast a disapproving glance at Myrddin, but it didn't seem that Quin was too upset with them. He was getting very smug vibes from his lover, but as long as Quin was happy with them, they couldn't be too bad. She still hadn't put the blue dress from the first bag back up, having laid it gently on the arm of the couch while she searched. Finally, he spoke, breaking the rustle-silence-rustle-squeal-rustle repeat. "I take it you like them, then?"

"It's.. honestly.. just wow. Maybe a little much." Quin breathed out as she eyed the blue dress as she put back a bright orange shirt in the bag. "But damn me if I don't." Complete admiration flooded her voice, and she was fighting the urge to jump on the two to express her gratitude. It felt like all her birthdays and Christmases rolled into one wonderful package. The bright smile drained from her face as a sobering thought came to her head and she looked at the two men snuggled under the blanket. "You really shouldn't have though. Why are you guys always so nice to me?"

Myrddin muttered lowly to Sebastian, "That's some gratitude she has." She hadn't said another word to him since that comment about painting fingernails and reading _Vogue_. He knew it shouldn't bother him since he knew she was joking, but it was disturbing him more that he didn't actually mind the idea at all. Exasperated at her attitude, he spat out, "Can't someone be nice to you without you thinking it suspicious?"

Quin rolled her eyes as she stood, expecting that answer. "Well, other than you two, the amount of people that have been nice to me for no reason at all has been zero. So what is it?" She pointed at them and shook her head, "I haven't forgotten how we met. I've just been avoiding this question because I honestly didn't want the niceness to end. But.." she stopped and lowered her hand. "this is starting to feel like bribery and I don't like it."

Sebastian smirked. She was a bright one and he wasn't surprised at the question. She'd always been reluctant to take anything for free, and with her just coming out of the hospital it made her feel even worse knowing she couldn't pay them back. He was glad to see the self reliance had lasted in his lineage. He squeezed Myrddin's shoulder gently. It was time to tell her the big secret. "Well, since you insist, perhaps you could change into some of your new apparel and come back in here to discuss it?"

Quin paused, not expecting Sebastian to agree so readily that there was a reason behind them being nice, but nodded. _I knew it was too good to be true. God, I hope he doesn't want me to have his or Myrddin's baby. That's going to be awkward to explain... _She picked up a bag of clothing with one hand, almost not being able to lift the bag and grabbed the dress from the couch arm with the other. In an awkward way, she shambled to her bedroom, leaving the boys on the couch. Her mind wandered, and she couldn't help think, _Can vampires even __**have**__ babies?_

"We better get up and dressed before she gets back." Sebastian sighed, moving underneath Myrddin. He didn't really want to, but he also didn't want her to think the worst first off.

"You really going to tell her now?" Myrddin asked curiously. He looked up and caught Sebastian's asking gaze and hastily said. "Kinda seems like a one-two punch. You know, 'You have no family' then 'Hey, you know, really you do.'" He shrugged as he got up from his comfortable position on top of Sebastian, "Not that it matters to me. Your decision to tell her since she's yours."

Sebastian raised his eyebrows as Myrddin left his lap and over to grab his pants that had been tossed behind the television somehow. Myrddin pulled them on, and Sebastian just couldn't help thinking about taking them off again, which brought a mischievous smirk to his face. Moving under the blanket, he stood and went over to the thermostat, raising the temperature for Quin. Vampires didn't really have a preference for temperature, but certain activities did raise body temperatures. Myrddin tossed Sebastian his pants after a few moments of rummaging to find them. He slipped them on with ease and fastened them. It was only a few seconds before Myrddin had found all their articles of clothing - how a sock had managed to get in the potted plant across the room, Sebastian didn't want to know. They both opted for no clothing other than pants, and stacked the extra clothes on a barstool.

Sebastian picked up bags of clothing and put it at the entrance to downstairs for Quin to pick up on the way back to her bedroom, surprised at how heavy they felt. Not that it was a problem for him, of course. One of the perks of incredible strength. He was just settling back down on the couch when Myrddin jumped on top of him and nuzzled his neck. With a small nip on his lover's lips, he whispered, "Quin could be coming back in at any moment." Myrddin opened his mouth to give back a tart reply before an unsure voice called from the entryway.

"Boy, Sebastian. You sure called that." Quin laughed nervously, walking carefully towards them. Quin felt like she was walking on pins and needles towards them. The dress wasn't uncomfortable, it was more then sensation that she didn't have pants on and wasn't in a bathrobe. The sleeves came just past her elbows, and it was obvious that this dress was meant to fit someone taller than herself. It was a loose on her, but if she continued eating regularly she would gain that. Despite that, she truly wanted to give Myrddin a kiss for picking out this dress. She loved blue. She had bunched up the end to pick it up so she wouldn't trip over it, and she held the excess off to the side with one hand, making her feel like a little like a silly princess. Over her other arm was Sebastian's bathrobe folded in half.

Her steps were small and unsure until she got to the chair, when she turned and sat as regally as a queen where she dropped the excess on the floor where it hid her feet. She really, really wanted to put her feet in the chair, but she didn't want to wrinkle the dress. Nervously, she straightened the material on her lap before laying Sebastian's bathrobe on it. She was sitting on the edge in more ways than one and she fought the urge to turn her head down and blush. Instead, she met Sebastian's eyes, then Myrddin's and gave them a small smile. "I really like the dress." Then she still felt the heat from blushing on her face. _Damnable nervous habit! _she thought to herself.

Sebastian's eyebrows were arched in surprise. He had seen it, but he didn't think she'd choose that in particular. And she seemed so very nervous in it. He almost felt sorry for her... almost. It had been her choice to wear it, after all. Myrddin seemed just as stunned as he did, but he broke the silence with a smooth, "You look very lovely, Quin."

"Yeah! Like a girl!" Myrddin blurted out. His eyes were wide in surprise and he had bolted up from Sebastian when Quin had come into view. He had done a good job on the dress, and it loosely hugged what little curves she had. Might've been a little long, but that could easily be remedied by some light tailoring. He wondered if his sister could give him any tips while Sebastian was thinking that Myrddin's response had been less than tactful.

Quin broke into a relieved grin. She hadn't been sure how the boys would react, and the first time wearing a dress at all made her doubly nervous. She laughed softly and put a strand of her black hair behind her ear, rolling her eyes. "Wow Myrddin, that's a good observation there that I'm a girl. This the first time you realize that?" It sounded rhetorical. The dress made her feel more vulnerable for some reason and she hugged her knees. Her grin was wiped from her face as she got right down to business. "Okay Sebastian. 'Fess up. Why are you guys so nice to me?"

Sebastian nodded and Myrddin's leaned back on him for the spiel. "Well, you already know that I'm a vampire..." Sebastian paused, wondering if that was the best way to start it.

Quin, in the meantime had nodded curtly at his pause. "Yeah. And you're immortal and pretty much indestructible." She added mentally, _Except for a few things, one of which is you drinking my blood, which means I'm pretty safe from you on being drained or turned myself._ She didn't see where this was going. What did his being a vampire had to do with anything... unless he was trying to skirt the topic that Myrddin wasn't? She braced herself mentally for telling him what he had planned couldn't happen in any lifetime. Course, she was assuming that Myrddin was okay with the topic since he wasn't screaming and whining like a little girl.

Sebastian nodded, deciding it was a good starting place. "I am a very _old_ vampire. Before I was... changed... I had a wife and family. As they aged, they had their own children and so on and so forth. They scattered from Europe, taking boats to the new country - this country. And migrated." Quin was looking utterly confused on what this had to do with her. He had to get to the point. "I tracked them because they were mine. Most have passed on, but I remain." He paused, adding the real blow as soft and gently as possible. "_You remain._"

Quin eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, trying to piece together what he could be getting on about. Why tell her about his history? He never had before, and she had never asked. She almost didn't catch that last softly spoken sentence he said, and almost blurted out, "I remain what?" Then it hit her, he had been talking about his family. _He remained, and I remained?_ Her eyes widened, it dawning on her. Events from the past flooded her mind, the fact he couldn't stand the taste of her blood to the point of sickness, his kindness and unnecessary warmth. Her voice was shaky when she spoke. "Are.. are you...?" She couldn't bring herself to say it, but tears sprang to her eyes. She fought them back and drew in a steadying breath, but there was still a quaver in her voice as she spoke. "I'm not alone?"

Myrddin was wisely keeping out of this, and Sebastian only nodded, watching Quin's reaction keenly for anything from crying to cursing. It didn't take a genius to figure out she was upset. She stood and his bathrobe fell off her lap. She seemed almost in a daze as she picked up the hem of her dress and walked over to where they sat. She stood there, not meeting their eyes, and staring down at their feet.

Quin wasn't sure whether to be happy, sad, angry, or any number of other emotions that were now coursing through her at that simple nod. She was in a daze as she walked to stand next to them. Thoughts were racing through her head, not many of the pleasant at all. Finally her eyes looked up, meeting Sebastian's. The confused emotions surely could be read on her face, but her voice was firmer, "I am _not_ alone?"

"No." Sebastian said, meeting her disconcertingly crazed gaze with a coolness that surprised himself. For a moment a triumphant blaze went through her eyes before it was dampened by a dark glaze. She turned and gathered her dress around her knees before sprinting away from them. Her feet padded down the stairs, fading until there was a sharp slam of a door. The two men were silent for a moment before Myrddin stood up and walked towards the kitchen to put up the leftover Chinese.

"She's real pissed at you. I'd take the key to the door when you go. I suggest you go quick. She needs you." Myrddin said softly. There was no way he was going to get dragged into this farther than he had to. The only thing he could be used for was a target. Quin had a good arm on her.

Sebastian sighed, but didn't need to be told twice. He went to the kitchen and got the door keys from a hook and gave Myrddin a kiss on the cheek. He was walking down the stairs in the next moment when he heard the front door close. He paused; that could only mean one thing. A Gaelic curse passed his lips directed towards his descendant before he was at full speed and out the door a few seconds later after passing the final stairs. 


	11. Chapter 11

_It has to be a lie. A cruel lie!_ Quin thought, panting as she pounded the gravel in bare feet with the dress hiked to her knees. She had slammed her bedroom door on the way past it as a diversion. The front door had closed a little too hard for her own liking, but she had began running after that. One thing she was good at was running. She wasn't sure to be proud or ashamed of it now. _Proud! Just get away!_ she thought to herself. Her eyes stung and her vision blurred and she knew she was crying. She couldn't cry and run at the same time, so she took a deep breath and pushed on. Finally, she winded down and looked around herself. It was dark, deserted, and appropriately enough, there was a cemetery behind a high iron fence to one side. There was a half moon tonight, and the stones faded into the shadows like she wished she could. She walked to the fence and suddenly felt totally exhausted. She fell to her knees and bowed her head into one hand, resting her head against the iron bars of the cemetery. Between panting for breaths and sobbing, she didn't hear the vampire Sebastian catch up on her.

Sebastian looked down at Quin for a moment before crouching beside her. She was holding onto the thin iron bar so hard with one hand that the knuckles had turned white. She was sobbing like her heart was breaking, and it made Sebastian more than a little sad that it was because of _him_ she was crying. A light hand touched Quin's back and got an immediate reaction - the hand that was under her shot out towards him in a ball and hit his shoulder hard enough that it would have left a bruise on a normal man. Her hand disappeared under her in the next second and her sobbing eased for a moment with a sniffle. Then a muffled, but loud and strained command issued: "GO AWAY!"

Sebastian did not remove his arm and the sobbing resumed a moment before the hand that held the railing pulled Quin's form up and near the bars. If the bars had been a little bit wider, Sebastian assumed that she would have attempted to slide through it to get away. "Quin..." he said gently, attempting to find a neutral subject to talk about. "Quin... you're going to get your new dress dirty." he tried lamely.

Quin couldn't believe it. She wanted to be alone, and all he cared about was the dress! He tracked her down for a piece of cloth. She turned on him, eye red rimmed with tears, "You want the damn dress? Fine! Take the bloody thing!" In a rage, she lifted the hem up smoothly and slipped it off of her head, leaving her only in her underclothes in front of the cemetery. It was then she noticed the damn chill to the air. It didn't seem to matter to her much now. She was glaring a challenge to him and she threw the dress into his arms before turning around in a huff and beginning to stalk off.

Sebastian wasn't sure whether to laugh or not at the sight of Quin stripping down to nothing except her underwear to walk away in the darkness. It did leave him quite stunned - it was something unexpected from her. Then he walked after her, his long legs catching up to her shorter strides easily. "Quin, stop." She paused just a moment before starting again, quickening her step.

"You don't own me. You can't tell me what to do." She said hoarsely. The cold was starting to get to her already. The same thoughts kept running through her head and she wanted as far away as possible away from him as possible. Suddenly he was in front of her, making her draw up short. She wasn't afraid of him any longer. She just wanted away from him and he wouldn't leave her alone. He stuck his face down in hers and hissed in frustration.

"I will tell you what to do and you will follow directions. You will now march yourself back home right now and we will discuss this like rational beings." It didn't need to be said that there was an "or else" in that sentence. Quin glared at him through her red rimmed eyes and then said the two words that one should never say to a vampire.

"Bite. Me." For an instant Sebastian stared, not believing what she just said. Then, in the next he had flung her over his shoulder and was ignoring her demands to be put down on the ground before she went into an angry silence. Then he learned he needed to hold onto her if he was going to just put her on his shoulder as he suddenly felt a shift in her body weight and a distinct tug on his pants that left a wedgie. He heard a short "ooph" as Quin left his shoulder, tumbling heels over head to land on her feet, then slid to her rear on the grass in front of the cemetery. A second later she had pushed on his knees to get up, but didn't count on the fact that the back of the knee is the weakest part of the leg. Sebastian's legs buckled under him quite unexpectedly and he fell over backwards on top of Quin, who let out a pained shriek before going silent.

With both of them on their rears, he looking at her, and she at him, it didn't take long for Quin to decide to jump up and attempt to run past Sebastian, who just stuck out his arm to grab her leg and stop it in mid-stride, making Quin fall face first past him. He then dragged her backwards and held her arm in an iron grip to keep her from trying to get up. Quin did attempt to pull her arm away, but it was useless and eventually she settled into a sulking silence with her face turned away from him.

Sebastian was angry, and he was doing his best not to attempt to scare the hell out of Quin to get her back to normal. Maybe Myrddin had been right that it was too early to tell her. Finally, he broke the silence in a stone cold tone. "You prefer to talk about it here, _child_?"

Quin was pissed. First, because she wanted to get away from him and couldn't. Then, he had the gall to call her a child. Then, she grudgingly gave him credit in her mind because to him, she really was a child, and acting like one too. She muttered a response, and she didn't have to turn her head to know he had leaned down as he spoke again in that icy tone. "What was that, again?"

He knew what she said, and she wasn't going to repeat it. Her own icy silence matched his and she could feel that he hadn't moved from earlier. She closed her eyes, determined to wait him out on this, no matter how cold she got. Suddenly, she couldn't feel his presence except for his arm and she felt the dress fall haphazardly on her. As much as she didn't want it on her, it was certainly warmer than nothing at all. Then a sharp "Whoop!" explained why Sebastian had done it. A cop must have been driving along and he had heard it approaching. _Just frikken great._ She almost wished he had her in her undressed state - the cop would have a reason to arrest her and get her away from him. Sebastian squeezed her arm hard a moment before loosening back to its iron grip again. That signal was unmistakable, he'd handle this, don't say or do anything.

Sebastian wasn't impressed by her cursing him out and then the silent treatment. It put him in a worse mood before - she was acting entirely unreasonable. Plus, now his pants were jammed up his rear in a very uncomfortable position. He heard a car's engine approaching quickly and he took one quick look at Quin's indecent backside and tossed the dress over her. Unfortunately, the cop had seen them sitting on the side of the road with his headlights and pulled over and Whoop'd his siren at them. They were highlighted in the cop's beams. _Entirely unnecessary_, Sebastian thought to himself.

The cop got out of the car and sauntered over to the two. He knew the man wasn't human because of his damn eyes. He couldn't tell if the form on the ground was a vampire or human, but it sure wasn't any dog. It would be just his luck to get a vampire attack on his watch past the cemetery. "Everything alright here, sir?"

"Everything's fine, officer. I was just retrieving my daughter." Sebastian said smoothly with a confident smile on his face.

"Uh-huh." The cop said doubtfully. _Vampire, both of them,_ he thought to himself. Might as well be conversational and humor them. "She alright?"

Sebastian nodded. "Oh, definitely. She just has a late night compulsion to sleep walk. I went in to check on her and by golly if she wasn't gone. I knew I immediately had to go out after her, which explains my half-dressed state."

"What's she doing on the ground if she sleepwalks?" The cop asked sarcastically.

Sebastian smiled humorlessly. "She has a tendency to fall back to sleep at random times while sleepwalking."

"Uh-_huh_." The cop nodded, then looked past them. "Just out patrolling the cemetery myself. Groundskeeper was reporting there was more vandalism over the past few weeks. Asked us to keep a watch out since you know we can't have anyone disturbing the dead." The cop looked back at Sebastian expectantly, like that taunt would make him rile, but he was sorely disappointed when the vampire said nothing at all. "You seen anything tonight on your ah... walk?" He was eyeing the woman now, who was stock still at the man's side.

That same humorless smile was on Sebastian's lips and he shook his head. "No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't. Just myself and my _daughter_." It wasn't lost on Sebastian that the cop was checking out Quin, even with the dress draped over her body. He was attempting to get the cop's attention back to himself because he certainly didn't want the cop's attention on Quin.

"Alright." The cop said flippantly, entirely missing Sebastian's hinting. "Can she stand?" he asked as he nodded his head towards Quin. Sebastian felt Quin shiver with his hand on her, and he removed his hand from her arm and poked her in her side.

"I would prefer she sit up and get her surroundings first." Sebastian said with a steely tone in his voice.

Quin had kept as still as possible to avoid the cop noticing her, but heard it in his voice that he did anyway. She was suddenly all too aware she had nothing on except her underwear and was covered by a dress. Quin heard the lust in the cop's voice and that made her shiver. Sebastian poking her side had more than one meaning, and she understood them plainly enough. Don't run or it will look suspicious. Play along or you'll pay the consequences later.

Quin stirred slowly like she was just waking up, then turned her face towards Sebastian and fluttered her eyes open slowly, then bolted them open immediately, acting surprised to see the cop there. She forced a flush across her cheeks and then quickly crawled behind Sebastian to hide from the cop's roving eyes. As it was, he got a good look at her bra and her underwear. "Say I'm mute, can't answer questions." Quin whispered behind his back lowly, knowing he could hear her, but not the cop. She had pulled the dress with her some of the way, and she grabbed at it the rest of the way to bring it behind his back and slip it back over her head. Thank God he was larger than she was and made a nice privacy block.

"Does she only have on her underwear?" The cop asked curiously. _I could take her in for indecent exposure_, he thought to himself,_ and the vampire wouldn't have anything to say about it!_

"Yes, but I am thankful she has those on, she normally sleeps in the nude and it is a chilly night. That is why I brought her clothes to wear." Sebastian said shortly with a frown, listening to Quin's suggestion.

"You know.. I could take her in for indecent exposure since she walked down the road and anyone could have seen her..." The cop said with a smirk. Quin heard this comment and having dressed, wrapped her arms around Sebastian's neck and hugged him, putting her chin on her shoulder. Perhaps her arms were a little tighter than needed because Sebastian coughed, and she loosened her grip. _That'll teach him for that nude comment_, she thought to herself. She watched the cop with wide doe eyes, pretending she couldn't hear him. Quin's eyes didn't glow in his headlights, the cop saw with a certain delight. She was human.

"Yes, well. I explained the situation, officer." Sebastian said with a grim smile. Quin was acting like nothing had just happened between them. Chalk that one up to a survival instinct. "Is there anything else? We need to get home before she catches a chill." He felt a shiver go through her anyway, and he was positive that it was just for show. He made to stand and Quin let go of his neck and let him stand. Once he had stood, she reattached herself to his side and wrapped her arms around his waist. Then he felt a small relief as she pulled the cloth of his pants out of his rear from the wedgie she gave him.

The officer didn't think he should let Quin go on that charge.. until the vampire stood. Now, the cop wasn't a short guy. He was a decent height and almost 6 foot himself, but Sebastian's six-five made him think twice about demanding the girl for any charges. He wasn't stupid, he just nodded curtly at the pair. "Nope. That's all. Have a nice night." He turned and walked back to his car before getting in and backing up and driving off. Quin watched the car's lights fade into the distance before disconnecting herself from Sebastian and stepping away a few feet before crossing her arms and looking at him. She wasn't glaring daggers, at him, but he could see she wasn't pleased with him. He waited expectantly, and finally, she spoke.

"You've known since you first got sick on my blood." It wasn't a question. "You knew and didn't tell me." Her voice was quiet, but it didn't need to be loud. It conveyed well enough.

"Yes." He confirmed. Her face didn't change, but her eyes smoldered in a boiling rage.

"Why? Was it because I was a thief and you thought I'd clean you out? Or that I'd latch on like a leech and suck you dry?" She paused and she dropped her head, drawing in a quavering breath. "Was there something wrong with _me_?" she said even softer.

"No. Never with you." he replied gently. "It was just-"

"Were you afraid of how I'd react? That I'd flip my lid like I did tonight?" She looked back up at him, and there was an intense sadness on her face. "I would have been overjoyed then. Now.. now I'm not so sure. You were the first person to care - really care - about me. And, and then..." she lowered and shook her head as she felt the tears begin to sting. "This hurts worse than any bruise, cut, or scrape I've ever had." She whispered as she felt the tears leave her eyes.

Sebastian closed his eyes. Christ, he felt guilty. He opened his eyes and moved towards her in his silent way, but right as he was reaching out to hold her, she held at her hands at arm length and shook her head. Then she turned and started walking. At least this time it was towards the house. She was silent for about ten steps before she muttered, "It's cold." Then he heard a sniffle and saw her wipe at her face with one hand. With the other she had bunched up the dress hem and was holding it so it wouldn't drag on the ground. "In more ways than one." Sebastian calmly agreed. He stayed behind her by two steps as they walked.

"You know, when my parents died..." Quin asked softly. "Did you attempt to get custody of me?"

"No. I didn't think there was a reason for me to get involved. My lawyer handled their burial affairs anonymously and suggested that I legally adopt you. I told him no." Sebastian said just as softly. "I'm sorry."

Quin stopped, her shoulders trembling. She knew that Sebastian had stopped with her. Her fist clenched by itself, and she closed her eyes to the fresh onslaught of tears. She could have been his. Legally, fully. She choked down a sob and turned on him, her head down and she walked back to him. She stood inches away from the blond vampire that was her ancestor. Then she leaned forward and put her head against him. In a pained voice, she begged him. "Tell. Me. Why."

Sebastian put his arms around Quin, and she didn't resist. "Quin, I am a vampire. An ancient one, but I still need blood. That's not a safe environment for a child. I am still mostly active at night. And what would I have done when you went to school? I never age - people would easily see that through the years, and so would you."

Quin sniffed and wiped her eyes before looking up at him and putting her arms around him in a hug. "Stuff all that. You wouldn't have been able to chew on me. You'd have gotten sick. And you're too much of a knight to even think of killing a kid for your own ends. You can also stay awake and move about in the day. School, you could have taught me yourself. People do that now. History would have been interesting. And language." She hid her head again and tightened her grip. "I can just imagine you teaching me languages. Like that pretty one you curse in." She choked back a laugh and loosened her grip and dropped her arms, pulling away.

Sebastian held onto Quin in an iron grip, refusing to let her go. She only attempted to pull away once before she settled back next to him and let the silent tears flow. He bowed his head down, looking down at her. He whispered softly, "Gaelic would have been your first language. Then you would have learned English, Latin, and many others."

"But that's not what happened." Quin said softly back, the tears evident in her voice. "I went to foster care. I ran away to the streets." Again her arms went around him and she squeezed him tightly, "I tried to rob you. If I hadn't gone in that night, you might never have seen or heard from me again. I could have died so many times. So many times... I wanted to, but then I'd fight back. I didn't want to die, Sebastian."

"No one wants to." Sebastian said quietly. "Each time you came back and then left, I was scared I was never going to see you again. That you would die not knowing you had a family. That you would die without making one for yourself."

Quin tensed, then trembled. It was cold out here, but it had started to become a refreshing cold that numbed. She shivered involuntarily and shook her head. "That won't ever happen, Sebastian. It can't."

"Sure it can. You'll meet a guy, he'll like you, you'll like him..." Sebastian said soothingly.

"No._ It can't_." Quin shook her head, letting go and pushing herself away from him slightly. "Let me go. I'm freezing my ass off out here and want to get back home." They were still in front of the cemetery. They hadn't moved but a few feet from where they were at when he caught up to her. Sebastian smirked and bent, picking Quin up in his arms. What would have taken a much longer time if they were walking took only a few seconds with Sebastian holding Quin. The speed of it had Quin's teeth chattering and her body shaking with the cold involved. Sebastian opened the door and attempted to set Quin down gently on her feet. Her knees buckled underneath her and she slid down to the ground. She seemed to be murmuring something softly, and Sebastian leaned down close to hear the word "cold" being repeated.

Sebastian locked the door and picked her back up to take her to her bedroom. Putting her underneath the covers gently, he was surprised when Quin grabbed his arm tightly and brought him down face to face with her . "You didn't understand me. I _can't_ have a family of my own. I can't have kids. _I'm sterile, Sebastian_." She let go of his arm and laid back down, gathering the covers around her and looked up at him, a hopeless look on her face.

Sebastian patted her shoulder, speaking gently, "Get some sleep. It's been an eventful night."

Quin snorted, thinking that was a nice way of putting it, but snaked her arm out quickly and grabbed his hand as he pulled away. "I'm not sleepy. Don't leave me yet." Sebastian hesitated, then nodded. Myrddin would understand. He didn't climb under the covers, but laid on top of them and Quin snuggled next to him anyway. Then, she began to talk.


	12. Chapter 12

Her voice was low and soft, but it wasn't difficult for Sebastian to hear. Quin wasn't going to repeat it, and that's why she asked him to stay. She didn't meet his eyes, not wanting to see his reactions. It would make it even more difficult to tell what she wanted.

"I don't remember a lot about when I was a kid. What I do remember I wish I could forget. I'm not going to say I was a perfect kid, but I don't think I deserved what I got most of the time. Teachers would look at me funny when they saw what they weren't supposed to. They asked where they'd come from, of course. I told them once, and they didn't believe me. Was useless to say anything more. It just happened over and over... then he decided to take an interest. They'd put me in the closet, and it wasn't anything like yours. It was dark, cramped... and..." Quin trailed off, her entire body twitching and trembling as she curled up slightly. "Roaches. A nest of 'em. Big, small... it didn't help screaming. No one ever came anyway. They. Crawled. Everywhere."

Quin stopped, realizing she was trembling and curled, made an effort to control it and stretched back out. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself, then continued. "I couldn't take it anymore. I ran away with nothing more than the clothes on my back. Teachers and kids pointed, they talked. I didn't have to hear to understand what they were saying. They knew I was different. The teachers stayed out of it though. Didn't offer help. I tried my best in school, I really did. But then I realized I had bigger concerns than school. I needed to survive, and staying away from what I was in for six hours a day doesn't help to understand it. I was supposed to start 7th grade when I dropped out."

"I stayed at shelters during this time, ate at the soup kitchen. They stared, but didn't ask. I got behind an adult in the lines and they figured I was with them. I can't tell you how many times I saw pity cross their eyes. Then they said, 'I understand.' How could they? I hate that phrase... I really do. It's just code for 'I feel sorry for you.'" She sighed, "Except when you say it. You know more than most, I guess."

"I stopped staying at shelters when I was thirteen. I was just ah..." Quin paused, then winced at the term, "just 'blooming.' One of the more perverted old men started pawing me one night and I swung and broke his nose." She paused, her voice taking on a proud tone and he could tell she was smiling with her voice. "There was blood _everywhere_. He was screaming bloody murder, the shelter people took one look at the man's nose and kicked me out. He told them I just hit him for no reason and they believed him. Course it might not have helped that I was screaming that I was going to kill him in his sleep if he ever tried that shit again." She paused, finding it amusing and laughed softly, sounding something like, "Heee..."

"That was when I was banned from the shelters city-wide. Started sleeping under bridges, in doorways and anywhere else I could find that was semi-private and the cops didn't come around. I dumpster dived for food, sometimes went in convenience stores and nabbed a candy bar. Nothing real major, but they still didn't like it. Got warned by the cops a couple times, took downtown once and booked, sent to a juv detention center for a few weeks after that. That was nice except everyone there was acting badass and trying to kill you. Food was okay, got three meals a day and a bed."

"Met Vance after that.. thought he was nice. He was a Lizard, one of the heads. He brought me to the bar, let me sleep in the back a couple times. It was safe, warm, if a bit loud. I continued to go, never drank anything though. Then he decided I needed to... pay.. for his hospitality. That led to that.. that memory." Quin went to draw up her legs again, but found Sebastian had edged closer and she was unable to without making it more than an inconvenience for him. She sighed, closing her eyes, wishing she could disappear. Her voice turned bitter as she continued.

"I went to a clinic and got tested cause I didn't know if they had anything. They gave me some pills to prevent pregnancy.. but they didn't work. I got sick and went back to the clinic to get the test results and whoop tee do, guess what I found out was in the oven but disease free. Went back to Vance and told him, who pretended like he didn't even know me and ordered some others to teach me a lesson for disturbing a Lizard. I.. lost the baby. Miscarried. That was a few weeks before I met you. I didn't know until a few months later the full extent of what they did to me. You know what happens after we meet. I don't need to recap that."

Sebastian was holding back his rage. He was angry at himself and at the laid back attitude that Quin had taken about her life. He bit his lower lip to keep from exploding, then silently counted to ten, then exhaled. "Quin, why didn't you tell me when you found out?"

"I didn't think it mattered." Quin snapped back. She looked at him with a frown on her face. "To me, you were just a really nice vampire I met by chance. What would it matter to you if I couldn't? I'm not psychic, Sebastian. I didn't know we were related. Really, just look at us. We're complete opposites. You're light skinned, blond, and tall as hell. I'm some kind of yellow-green brown, black haired, and short as sin. How'd that even happen?"

Sebastian couldn't help it, he smiled. "Well, there's the years for one thing that dilutes the blood. And you take after your father in looks. He was Native American and German. Your mother was my descendant and pure English. There was a huff in the family about her marrying him too, as I recall."

Quin stared for a moment like he had grown a second head. "You know about my mother and father. You know about me?"

Sebastian grinned a little wider, "It's something of a hobby of mine. I know about all of my descendants." You could hear a puff of pride in his voice as he said that.

Quin's eyes widened and she pounced towards him, clasping him on one shoulder. "What's my name? My _full_ name?" There was an unmistakable excitement in her voice. Ever since he had told her people normally had at least two names, she felt she had been missing out on something grand.

"I was wondering when you would ask that, Kayla _Brennan_ Quinn. Quinn being with two N's." Sebastian smirked, watching Quin's face scrunch up like she just tasted a lemon.

"Brennan! Oh, man! Making fun of that name came back to bite me in the ass, didn't it?" she said before lowering her head and shaking with laughter. Then she lifted her head and pulled herself to view him face to face and gave him a short kiss on the lips. "I like my name. Call me Brennan instead of Quin?"

"But... why?" Sebastian was taken aback at her sudden request and the kiss on his lips.

"Well, Mister Sebastian Brennan slash _Hector_, I thought it would be fitting since I now know who I am that I actually go by my rightful name. I want to be proud of who I am." She paused, and a slight blush crossed her cheeks. "I want _you_ to be proud of who I am. Teach me how?"

"How to... what now?" Sebastian was flabbergasted. Quin, in less than a few hours had gone from one extreme to another. She was now laying halfway on top of him, looking down at him. She looked embarrassed to be asking whatever it was she was trying to ask.

"I know this sounds corny, but teach me how to uh.. fill the role? Of your descendant. Please, for all you've done for me. I want to make you proud. Teach me how? I want to learn everything." She could feel the blush deepen as she looked down at Sebastian. He had the most incredulous look on his face. "I know it's sudden. But so's me finding out I'm related to you and all the rest of this. I forgive you for not adopting me. I can't blame you - you were only looking out for yourself. Nothing wrong with that at all. But I'm here now and I want to know what it means. Please, teach me."

She was begging him, and he couldn't in good conscience tell her no. But he could put off an answer. In a firm voice, Sebastian ordered her. "Get off me, take a shower, and get dressed in clean clothes. We need to talk about exactly what you want to learn.. Brennan." A look of pure joy crossed her face and she rolled across him onto the floor. He was concerned for a moment that she had hurt herself, but she popped up with a grin and bounded over to the bag of clothes she had brought back to her room.

"I was thinking orange. Is that okay?" She chirped out. "But I also like this blue thing Myrddin got. It's like a skirt, but has shorts underneath." Brennan's hands shook going through the clothes. She was very excited. The only thing that was running through her mind was, _Family! I have a family!_ What she was actually saying she couldn't even tell you a second after she got it out.

Sebastian's face was unreadable, but he knew it was pure excitement coming from Quin. _No, Brennan. Why didn't she ask to be called Kayla?_ He thought to himself, but thought this was perfect to ask sometime later. He climbed out of the bed and walked over to her, standing over her and watching her take the clothes out of the bag with shaking hands. He crouched and reached out, holding her own hand in his, talking in a low, soothing voice. "Your first lesson is to be calm above else. Take your time, I will be here to guide you. And I suggest the blue."

Brennan smiled, and nodded, taking a breath. "Okay. Calm. Got it. It's just hard _not_ to be excited. And blue it will be." She forced herself to go slowly instead of tossing the clothes into a pile to take with her. Finally, she got up, took the shirt and shorts to the dresser and got out a new pair of underclothes. "Be here forever, huh?" She murmured softly, a strange light flickering in her eyes. A soft sniffle confirmed she was holding back tears again, but she took her time walking towards the door. She turned and looked back at him. He had gotten up when she did, but had stood next to the clothes when she went over to her dresser. "You might want to get cleaned up too. That roll in the dirt got us both pretty good. Meet you back in the den?" She paused for a good moment looking at him, then smirked before adding "Daddy!" and running off to the bathroom on the third level.

If Sebastian's heart was beating, it would have given him a heart attack at that one word. _What did I get myself in?!_ Sebastian asked himself before walking off towards his bedroom. She was right, he had gotten very dirty while dealing with his... child? Sebastian cringed at the thought. _I'm too old for this._


End file.
